http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/lawsuit/coolidge.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.bakersfield.com/state_wire/story/5458910p-5458071c.html http://tobacco.org/news/195566.html A jury has cleared Philip Morris USA of liability for the lung cancer developed by a longtime smoker of Malboro cigarettes, rejecting arguments that the tobacco maker's products caused the man's illness. Jurors deliberated for about two hours before returning their verdict Thursday. Bruce Coolidge, 51, sued the tobacco giant in 2001 after he was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. He was seeking to recover more than $1 million in medical costs and other damages. AP Fri, 22 Apr 2005 04:00:00 GMT http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-smoke22apr22,1,5771695.story http://tobacco.org/news/195500.html A Riverside jury Thursday absolved Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA of responsibility for the lung cancer of a longtime Marlboro smoker, ruling that he hadn't proved that his illness was caused by smoking. Bruce Coolidge, 51, a former truck driver who lives in Moreno Valley and began smoking at the age of 12, had accused the nation's top cigarette maker of negligence and fraud for distorting the risks and addictiveness of smoking. But the jury never got to the issue of Philip Morris' conduct, instead deciding unanimously that Coolidge had not proved that he suffered from a type of small-cell cancer typically caused by smoking. The Riverside County Superior Court jury deliberated less than three hours before issuing its verdict and ending a 10-week trial in which Philip Morris had argued that Coolidge suffered from atypical carcinoid cancer, which is not usually associated with smoking. Coolidge, who attended part of the trial in a motorized wheelchair, could not be reached for comment. But one of his lawyers, Shawn F. Khorrami, said that the verdict was disappointing and that rulings by Judge Roger Luebs to exclude certain evidence had harmed Coolidge's case. Khorrami said no decision had been made on whether to appeal. In a statement issued by Philip Morris, William S. Ohlemeyer, vice president and associate general counsel, said "the jury came to a prompt decision that was clearly compelled by the evidence they heard." Los Angeles Times Fri, 22 Apr 2005 04:00:00 GMT http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_smoke08.a1d5e.html http://tobacco.org/news/191819.html A 51-year-old Moreno Valley man should have known the dangers of cigarettes while he was a smoker, an attorney for Philip Morris Inc. said Monday in a downtown Riverside courtroom. One reason is that the man's religious elders warned him smoking is harmful to the body, a human temple, said Walter Cofer, a lead counsel for the tobacco giant. Former truck driver Bruce Coolidge is suing Philip Morris Inc. for ruining his health. . . . On Monday, one of Coolidge's attorneys placed old Philip Morris in-house memos on an overhead screen and read portions of the memos, some dating to the mid-1950s that addressed company executives' views about cigarettes' addictiveness. The attorney, Shawn Khorrami of Van Nuys, highlighted certain paragraphs in an effort to show executives knew how harmful their product was to consumers such as his client If study results show nicotine addiction is on the same levels as caffeine and morphine, "we will want to bury it," Khorrami read from one of the memos. Riverside Press-Enterprise jwelsh@pe.com (JOHN WELSH / The Press-Enterprise) Tue, 08 Mar 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_smoke05.a1c45.html http://tobacco.org/news/191572.html Lawyers for Philip Morris USA counted on a timing technicality to short-circuit a Moreno Valley man's lawsuit that blamed his lung cancer on the tobacco giant. But a Riverside County Superior Court jury kept the case alive. In the Inland region's first trial of its kind, Bruce Coolidge and his wife, Patricia, will be allowed beginning Monday to present evidence that Marlboro cigarettes ruined his health so the manufacturer, Philip Morris, must pay. . . . Sir Richard Doll, a British doctor who in the early 1950s first linked smoking to lung cancer, will be among the first witnesses via videotape Monday after opening statements. More than 20 experts are lined up to testify for both sides. Riverside Press-Enterprise mkataoka@pe.com (MIKE KATAOKA / The Press-Enterprise) Sat, 05 Mar 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/politics/11035478.htm http://tobacco.org/news/191234.html A Riverside County judge agreed Wednesday to let a former smoker sue Philip Morris USA, meaning a jury could hear the case as early as next week, the man's lawyer said. Bruce Coolidge, 53, a former truck driver who began smoking Marlboro cigarettes when he was 12, filed suit against the Richmond, Va.-based tobacco giant in July 2001 after he was treated for small cell lung cancer. Coolidge is seeking to recover more than $1 million in medical costs, as well as damages for pain and suffering. If he wins, he will seek punitive damages in a subsequent phase of the case, his attorney Timothy Prince said. AP Wed, 02 Mar 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://tobacco.neu.edu/litigation/cases/pressreleases/coolidge1.htm http://tobacco.org/news/191210.html A California jury today ruled that a product liability lawsuit filed in July 2001 against tobacco giant Philip Morris on behalf of Bruce Coolidge, a former truck driver who smoked Marlboro cigarettes from age 12 until his July 2000 diagnosis of small cell lung cancer, can proceed. The jury ruled that the lawsuit, which was filed on July 11, 2001, was filed within the then-operative one-year statute of limitations following the July 17, 2000 diagnosis of lung cancer. From April 2000 until July 17, 2000, Mr. Coolidge's doctors had given him a diagnosis of pneumonia. . . . The trial, which began in Riverside, California on February 7, 2005, was bifurcated by the trial judge with the first phase being a ruling on Philip Morris' motion for summary judgment on the grounds that the lawsuit was not filed within the statute of limitations because Mr. Coolidge should have known in April 2000 that his illness was caused by the company's Marlboro cigarettes. The trial will next proceed to the second phase, in which the jury will consider the company's liability for Mr. Coolidge's illness. . . . Edward L. Sweda, Jr., Senior Attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project (TPLP) at Northeastern University School of law in Boston (see http://tplp.org) was not surprised by Philip Morris' scorched-earth policy of trying to wear down their litigation opponents, including people who, like Bruce Coolidge, are suffering from grave illnesses such as lung cancer. "Tobacco companies have consistently used every means available to them to avoid being held accountable in a court of law for their long history of corporate wrongdoing." Tobacco Control Resource Center Tue, 01 Mar 2005 05:00:00 GMT