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• U.S. jury awards sick smoker $200,000 

A federal jury has awarded a sick smoker nearly $200,000 in compensation against two U.S. cigarette makers, a lawyer for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. said on Friday.

The jury in U.S. District Court in Kansas City split the award 99-1, after the court heard that the smoker, David Burton, smoked mostly cigarettes made by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (NYSE:RJR), whose brands include Camel, Winston, Salem and Doral.

Burton's product liability lawsuit claimed that his use of cigarettes manufactured by Brown & Williamson and R.J. Reynolds caused him to develop peripheral vascular disease. He claimed that he started smoking R.J. Reynolds' brands and only smoked Brown & Williamson's brands on occasion.

Of the total $198,400 in compensatory damages awarded in the suit against the two tobacco firms, Brown & Williamson, which makes KOOL, Pall Mall and Lucky Strike, was assessed only one percent, or $1,984 in compensatory damages and no punitive damages.

However, Brown & Williamson's lawyer Jeff Raborn said the company would appeal the verdict. There was no immediate comment from R.J. Reynolds.

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