The jury returned a $30M verdict, including punitive damages, in the Cohen v. R.J. Reynolds tobacco trial. The jury found that both defendants, RJ Reynolds and Phillip Morris, were negligent and created a defective product, and that Nathan Cohen's reasonable reliance on their false statements was the legal cause of his death.
The jury awarded $10M in wrongful death damages to the plaintiff, Robin Cohen, and $10M each in punitive damages against RJ Reynolds and Phillip Morris.
The jury assigned fault equally -- one-third each -- to Nathan Cohen, RJ Reynolds, and Phillip Morris.
Plaintiff attorney Gary Paige argued in closing that they "could have lowered the nicotine levels. Well, if they lowered the nicotine levels people won't be as addicted, they'll make less money. Well that'll be a good thing because people won't die. So they're making a decision that they're going to keep doing what they're doing to the nicotine to keep making money. And it's the same thing with the tar and the inhalability. Make it so they can't inhale it. They had a lot of options they could do, but they decided profits were the most important thing."
Defense attorney Stephanie Parker argued, "Mr. Cohen had all the information he needed to make a fully informed decision to smoke. Mr. Cohen was in charge of Mr. Cohen...The decision he made about cigarettes wasn't because he was...a puppet or a robot...It was his choice to make. He ignored his doctor's advice because it was at odds with what he wanted to do...He didn't listen to his wife, he didn't listen to his children. He didn't listen to his family members or his doctor. Why would he have listened to anything Reynolds had to say?...And there is zero evidence that he began smoking as the result of any advertisement."
CVN webcast the Cohen v. R.J. Reynolds tobacco trial live, gavel-to-gavel.
