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Orginial verdict hinges on crucial date in 1986
Jump to full article: Baltimore (MD) Sun, 2000-12-29
Author: Laurie Willis / Sun Staff
Intro: A $2.2 million award to a cancer victim who smoked cigarettes with asbestos filters might be reduced depending on the outcome of a new trial.
In April 1999, a Baltimore jury awarded more than $2 million to Charles M.P. Connor who was diagnosed with mesothelioma, which is specifically linked to asbestos. Connor received the diagnosis in 1997, more than 35 years after he had stopped smoking.
Connor smoked Kent cigarettes, whose "Micronite" filters used to include asbestos, ostensibly to rid the cigarettes of the poisons of nicotine. The verdict was handed down against the manufacturer of the cigarettes, Lorillard Inc., and Hollingsworth & Vose Co., which made the special filters. . .
But the verdict was appealed, and in a ruling made public yesterday, the Court of Special Appeals said a second trial should be held to determine whether the mesothelioma developed before or after July 1, 1986. The date is important because compensatory damages may not exceed $350,000 in any personal-injury case in which the cause of action arises on or after July 1, 1986.
If a jury finds that Connor developed cancer after July 1, 1986, then the award amount has to be reduced under Maryland law, said Mike Edmonds, who works for the law offices of Peter T. Nicholl and represented Connor during the trial.
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