http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/state/FL.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/news.html?news_id=51079 http://tobacco.org/news/272208.html The first checks arrived this week from a $580 million trust fund for sick Florida smokers who are receiving money even though their class action against cigarette makers was dismantled. But two key questions remain unanswered — whether the payouts are taxable and subject to Medicare liens. Checks worth about $9,000 each were mailed last Friday to about 24,000 claimants, said Coral Gables attorney Miles McGrane, the court-appointed fund trustee. He said the economic downturn was a factor in his decision to release a total of $216 million in initial payments now, with more to follow. “Some people are going to save their houses over this,” said McGrane, a name partner with McGrane Nosich & Ganz. “Given the problems with the economy, it couldn’t be timelier.” floridabiz.com FL_Marketing@alm.com (Billy Shields) Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.altria.com/media/03_06_03_04_07_engle.asp http://tobacco.org/news/272095.html In May 2008, the trial court, among other things, decertified the limited class maintained for purposes of the May 2001 bond stipulation and, in July 2008, severed the remaining plaintiffs' claims except for those of Howard Engle. The only remaining plaintiff in the Engle case, Howard Engle, voluntarily dismissed his claims with prejudice. In July 2008, attorneys for a putative former Engle class member petitioned the Florida Supreme Court to permit members of the Engle class additional time to file individual lawsuits. Altria Group, Inc. Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/communities/story/692689.html http://tobacco.org/news/271557.html Miami Beach City Commissioner Jerry Libbin is floating a proposal to ban smoking on the beach. It is part of his larger effort to make sure Miami Beach enforces its litter laws and keeps its streets -- especially its sand and surf -- clean. He broached the idea to his colleagues at the Sept. 10 city commission meeting. ''When people smoke on the beach, there is no ashtray,'' Libbin said. ``I don't want to be rummaging through the sand and picking up someone's cigarette butts.'' But for smokers like Palumbo, 50, the proposed ban doesn't make sense. Miami Herald tvaldemoro@MiamiHerald.com (TANIA VALDEMORO) Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/sep/24/na-cigar-industrys-rich-history/ http://tobacco.org/news/271526.html This month's Mayor's Hour on CTTV features some fascinating local history. Mayor Pam Iorio and I were on location at the J.C. Newman Cigar Factory in Ybor City, which was built in 1910 and is the only active operation in the Tampa Bay area. It is the oldest family-owned one in the nation. Our conversation with one of the Newman scion, Eric, who is president of the company now, included a fascinating bit of trivia regarding the construction of all the cigar factories that dot our Tampa landscape. All were constructed around the same time, early in the 20th century. Each one is three stories tall, 50 feet wide and runs east to west. The top floor was used for sorting the raw tobacco, the second floor was where the cigars were rolled, and the bottom floor was where packaging and distribution took place. . . . The smell from the cigars is intoxicating. Tampa Tribune news@wfla.com (JACK HARRIS Special to the Tribune) Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/sep/18/chemical-tainted-air-found-apartments-near-raytheo/ http://tobacco.org/news/271409.html Oscar Silva lives at BrandyWine apartments in St. Petersburg just a few hundred feet from the Raytheon defense plant. Tuesday, the Florida Department of Health sent a letter to Silva telling him the indoor air in his apartment has a cancer-causing level of a chemical called 1,2, Dichloroethane, also known as DCA, one of the chemicals showing up in the Raytheon groundwater plume that has been spreading under the neighborhoods since 1999. The state letter tells Silva that elevated levels of DCA in his apartment "are most likely from cigarette smoke … since people do smoke in your apartment." Silva says the trouble with that theory is that neither he nor his wife smokes. The couple's 3 week old son, Nicholas, can't hold a binky in his mouth, much less a cigarette. "It's strange, because I have been here three months and nobody has smoked a single cigarette here," Silva said in Spanish. . . . Department of Health scientists settled on the smoking theory after concluding that residents of both apartments at BrandyWine with elevated levels of DCA are smokers. The tenant of the other affected apartment, Tim Gallant, does smoke but doesn't think that's the reason for cancer-causing levels of DCA in the air of his home. . . . Curtis says established research on smoking can't account for the high levels of DCA found in the two BrandyWine apartments. Curtis lays blame squarely on the DCA-tainted Raytheon plume that has been detected under BrandyWine. "It would seem extremely unlikely that it's coming from any other source," Curtis said. Reports on file with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection show six test wells have detected DCA in groundwater within 200 feet of the same two BrandyWine apartments that now have elevated levels in their indoor air. Tampa Tribune news@wfla.com (MARK DOUGLAS) Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080908/OPINION/80906010 http://tobacco.org/news/270959.html Why are our major health organizations so silent about Susan Ivey, the CEO of RJ Reynolds Tobacco, in the life of the University of Florida? Ivey's deceiving and deceptive poison continues to blatantly and boldly spread on UF with her pro-death tobacco position on the Florida Foundation Board, a Susan Ivey Professorship and keynote speaker at commencement last year. Ironically, Ivey emphasized "character and credibility" to the UF grads. I was a student of the University of Florida and had no idea this was going on. . . . Go Gators, do the right thing," stated Elliot Sawyer, a recent UF grad on an online petition to renounce Ivey. Will it require a New York Times report on Ivey's miasmic presence in The Swamp to break the silence of those in high places? Florida Today Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a4B53j03hxPk http://tobacco.org/news/270902.html Altria Group Inc., the biggest U.S. cigarette maker, and other U.S. tobacco companies won a court ruling that might help them defend thousands of individual lawsuits in Florida. U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger in Jacksonville, Florida, ruled Aug. 28 that smokers suing the companies can't use factual findings from a state class-action, or group, suit to prove their cases. ``Doing so would comprise an arbitrary deprivation of the defendants' federal due process rights guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment,'' Schlesinger wrote. The ruling threatens to erase much of the advantage that Florida plaintiffs received from the state's highest court in the ``Engle'' tobacco class action in 2006. The ruling, if upheld on appeal, would apply to 4,000 cases filed in the Jacksonville court and federal cases throughout the state. . . . Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services Inc. senior vice president and associate general counsel, said yesterday in a statement that three judges, including Schlesinger, have ruled that ``plaintiffs in these cases must prove each and every element of their claims.'' . . . In his ruling, Schlesinger said that Florida law and the U.S. Constitution require smokers to prove all the elements of their claims. He urged them to appeal to the federal appeals court in Atlanta to provide guidance to trial courts. Bloomberg News rvanvoris@bloomberg.net (Bob Van Voris) Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.flmd.uscourts.gov/ http://tobacco.org/news/270731.html As the foregoing examples illustrate, the Phase I findings fail to establish that the issues tried in the Engle Phase I proceeding are identical to the issues presented in this case. Moreover, it is impossible to discern what specific issues were actually decided by the Phase I jury, and what facts and allegations were necessary to its decision; thus this Court is unable to give the Phase I findings preclusive effect with respect to the elements of any of the Engle plaintiffs' claims. . . . The Defendants also raise a constitutional challenge to Plaintiffs' proposed use of the Phase I findings, arguing that since it is impossible to know what allegations formed the basis of each finding, affording preclusive effect to the general Phase I findings would be an arbitrary application of the common law rules of preclusion. In the Defendants' view, such a fanciful application of well-established procedural doctrine would violate constitutional guarantees of due process. The Court agrees and--as an additional basis for its decision--finds that application of the Phase I findings as Plaintiffs propose would contravene the dictates of due process. . . . As the above cases establish, this Court is constitutionally bound to strictly apply the doctrine of issue preclusion consistent with its common law origins. Thus, since it is impossible to determine the precise issues decided by the Phase I jury, with respect to individual claims against particular Defendants, the traditional elements of issue preclusion--e.g., identicality, criticality, and necessity to the prior determination--cannot be satisfied. This Court is accordingly foreclosed from applying the Phase I findings as establishing any part of Plaintiffs' claims. 26 See Goodman, 804 So. 2d at 546-47. Doing so would comprise an arbitrary deprivation of the Defendants' federal due process rights guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment. . . . Without deciding the issue, there is some question concerning the constitutional validity of the Phase I findings. While many aspects of the sprawling and unwieldy Engle trial proceedings are troubling, none are more galling and shocking--in a constitutional sense--than the conduct of Mr. Stanley M. Rosenblatt, Engle class counsel. Relying on the limited record provided the Court, it seems that during the Engle Phase I proceedings, Mr. Rosenblatt made numerous racially charged statements and openly advocated jury nullification. . . . A constitutionally sound verdict must be premised on adherence to the law, and not the caprice of individual moral discretion. Verdicts based on unfettered and subjective notions of "morality" and "justice" "are lawless, a denial of due process and constitute an [*55] exercise of erroneously seized power." . . . In summary, the Engle Phase I findings may not be used to establish any element of an individual Engle plaintiff's claim. A general, non-specific finding of tortious conduct on the part of one or more Defendants does not satisfy the requirements of issue preclusion, as the Engle plaintiffs as a whole allege different acts and omissions by different Defendants, breached different tort duties to different people at different times causing different injuries. Additionally, this Court may [*57] not, as Plaintiffs urge, stretch the boundaries of preclusion law beyond its understood common law limits in the interests of convenience and economy. Despite any temptation to do so, this Court may not manipulate established procedural and substantive law in the interests of expediting the progress of this litigation. 29 To do so would be to perpetrate an independent constitutional violation. See In re Repetitive Stress Injury Litig., 11 F.3d 368, 373 (2d Cir. 1993) ("considerations of convenience and economy must yield to a paramount concern for a fair and impartial trial" (internal quotation marks omitted)); In re Brooklyn Navy Yard Asbestos Litig., 971 F.2d 831, 853 (2d Cir. 1992) ("The systemic urge to aggregate litigation must not be allowed to trump our dedication to individual justice, and we must take care that each individual plaintiff's--and defendant's--cause not be lost in the shadow of a towering mass litigation."). This Court will not sacrifice the fundamental right of due process upon the altars of expediency, thrift, and "pragmatism." United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=619026 http://tobacco.org/news/270595.html COPD If you are aged 40 to 80, a cigarette smoking history of 10 pack-years, and a diagnosis of stable moderate-to-severe COPD, you may qualify for this study. The research site is in DeLand, Fla. More information Please see http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat44.html. HealthDay [HealthScout] editors@healthday.com Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://blogs.theledger.com/default.asp?item=2257228 http://tobacco.org/news/270548.html Starting Oct. 1, Winter Haven Hospital will have a smoke-and-tobacco-free policy at the hospital, Regency Medical Center and on its other campuses. That means no sneaking outside the buildings to smoke, which I've seen people do while still wearing hospital gowns. This applies to patients, employees, physicians, volunteers and visitors, plus any category you may think of that isn't on that list the hospital spelled out. Lakeland Ledger Sun, 31 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://southtampa2.tbo.com/content/2008/aug/31/tr-cigar-city/ http://tobacco.org/news/270528.html TAMPA - Hoping to escape labor issues, Vicente Martinez Ybor became the first Key West cigarmaker to move his operations to Tampa. . . . That's part of the story visitors will see and hear at the $52 million Tampa Bay History Center, scheduled to open in December in the Channel District. The three-story building, under construction for nearly a year, will take visitors from the Tampa Bay area's prehistory through the arrival of the Spanish explorers, the Seminole Indian wars, Civil War, coming of the railroad and rise of the modern city. Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants came to work in the cigar factories and related businesses, creating an unusual culture that continues to help define Tampa more than 120 years later. They built their own clubhouses in Ybor City Tampa Tribune pmorgan@tampatrib.com (PHILIP MORGAN The Tampa Tribune ) Sun, 31 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.local6.com/news/17335068/detail.html http://tobacco.org/news/270523.html SAINT CLOUD, Fla. -- A man was airlifted with second-degree burns that he suffered during an explosion caused when he lit a cigarette after placing a "bug bomb" under a travel trailer, Saint Cloud authorities said. The 55-year-old man was burned on his head, chest, neck and face in the explosion at about 11:10 p.m. Thursday night at his home, located at 901 Walnut in Mark Mobile Home Park. WKMG-TV 6 desk@wkmg.com Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.lakewalesnews.com/articles/2008/08/27/opinion/letters/02%20lte.txt http://tobacco.org/news/270454.html Floridians have remained politely quiet, but no more. Too many people worked too hard for the heroic statement of John McCain took on "Big Tobacco" to continue, when in truth, Senator and Gov. Lawton Chiles, Buddy Mackay and the great Attorney General Bob Butterworth sued "Big Tobacco" for $400 million to pay for all the lives they had cost. We won the suit. Behind them solidly were youth and adult teams all over Florida who were nationally recognized . . . Our group in Polk County was SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco). It was a terrific group of kids and some oldies, me. . . . Maybe John McCain learned a few good lessons from our own fearless "Walking Lawton" and could lead the fight in Arizona. Polk County Democrat fpcslfiv@aol.com ( Verna Echols ) Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/215033-w.va.-saga-sandwiched-by-tobacco-for-plaintiffs-firm http://tobacco.org/news/270385.html The past and future of a prominent Pensacola plaintiffs firm may be tied litigation against large tobacco companies, but its present is in a small town in West Virginia. Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Eschner & Proctor is in a fight to preserve a $382 million jury verdict against industrial giant DuPont . . . Levin Papantonio earned a state contract to sue tobacco companies in the 1990s. The State of Florida's $13 billion settlement resulted in an estimated $275 million for Fred Levin's attorneys. . . . Levin's work began at the mansion of then-Gov. Lawton Chiles in 1994. He and a state senator visited Chiles, a Democrat, to encourage him to change existing state laws in order to give a lawsuit against tobacco companies a better chance. Chiles agreed . . . A Dec. 2006 decision by the state Supreme Court will allow tobacco companies to be held liable for individual smoking-related deaths and injuries. The Engle decision also overturned a $145 billion punitive damages award. Before a Jan. 21 deadline, 4,500 suits were brought on behalf of those who died from a tobacco-related disease or suffered from one before Nov. 21, 1996. The site noted, "Whether you have a right to bring an individual Engle suit, or some other suit, against Big Tobacco is an extremely complicated legal question that should be answered by a competent who is familiar with the Engle litigation." Levin Papantonio also ran television ads to drum up business. . . . Papantonio, who has his own radio show that he co-hosts with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., says a recent round of Freedom of Information Act requests will show that West Virginia state agencies are being influenced by business associations. Aside from showing that the Democrat Manchin met with DuPont officials and received draft briefs from them, Papantonio did not offer any proof. Legal NewsLine john@legalnewsline.com (JOHN O'BRIEN) Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aBFYV.0niBEw http://tobacco.org/news/270381.html Citigroup Inc. was sued by two former brokers who invested billions of dollars in tobacco- settlement money and who claim they were fired to protect the bank when it charged the fund excessive fees. The brokers, Peter Dunn and Alan Kirman, claim that Citigroup, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, wrongly blamed them for overcharging the tobacco-settlement trust, which holds money paid by the major U.S. tobacco companies as part of a $206 billion settlement with 46 states in 1998. Dunn and Kirman, in a suit filed July 17 in state court in Florida, claim they were unaware of any fee limits on the settlement money. They claim senior executives, who also were unaware of the limits, blamed them to avoid losing the account when the excessive fees were discovered. . . . The case is Dunn v. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., 08-CV-80926, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida (West Palm Beach). Bloomberg News rvanvoris@bloomberg.net (Bob Van Voris) Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT