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• Philip Morris, B&W Pay Sick Smoker $4.5 Million -- A First for PM 

Philip Morris USA Inc. and Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. paid a total of $4.5 million to a Florida man with emphysema in November -- Philip Morris' first-ever payment to an injured individual smoker. The plaintiff's lawyer made no statement about the event until the time for a last-resort appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court passed in January.

A jury in St. Petersburg, Fla., found in 2003 that the two tobacco companies should pay $3.26 million to John Eastman because they were partially liable for causing his addiction to cigarettes, which led to his health problems. . . .

Lisa Gonzalez, a spokesperson for Philip Morris' parent company Altria Group Inc., said the defendant paid Eastman $3,334,955. She said this reflected the $2.6 million judgment entered against Philip Morris and "$415,000 for attorneys' fees and $20,00 for costs, plus interest at the statutory rate."

Gonzalez said it is the first time Philip Morris paid damages to a smoker in a product liability case.

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