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Fort Lauderdale, FL— Jurors Monday handed down a $132,000 verdict for the lung cancer death of a Florida woman who smoked for more than half a century, but they cleared one of the two tobacco company defendants at trial and apportioned the lion’s share of fault to the smoker herself. Neff v. R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, 2007-CV-036745.
The Florida 17th Circuit Court jury concluded that Dorothy Milinkovich’s addiction to cigarettes caused her 1994 death from lung cancer, at age 71. However, the jury apportioned only 25% of fault to R.J. Reynolds, maker of the cigarettes Milinkovich favored across roughly 57 years of smoking. Jurors apportioned the remaining 75% of fault to Milinkovich herself and cleared Reynolds on fraud and conspiracy claims, while also rejecting a conspiracy claim against Philip Morris, whose cigarettes Milinkovich did not smoke.
Those findings, combined with the jury’s rejection of a claim for punitive damages, likely reduces the post-verdict award to $33,000.
Milinkovich started smoking when she was about 14 and continued until shortly before her death, smoking up to three-plus packs of cigarettes a day. Her daughter, Deborah Neff, contends the tobacco companies are responsible for her mother’s fatal lung cancer by manufacturing dangerous, addictive cigarettes, and conspiring to conceal those dangers from the public.
The case is one of thousands of ‘Engle Progeny” lawsuits, cases spun from a decertified 1990s class action by Florida smokers against the nation’s tobacco companies. In decertifying the class following a trial court verdict against the companies, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that individual Engle progeny plaintiffs can recover damages only if they prove the smoker at the heart of each case was addicted to cigarettes that legally caused a smoking-related illness.
The 10-day trial turned on who was ultimately responsible for Milinkovich’s smoking and its impact. During Monday’s closings, Neff’s attorney, Scott Schlesinger, of Schlesinger Law Offices, reminded jurors of evidence that he said showed a multi-pronged, tobacco-industry initiative, including the marketing of “filtered” and “light” cigarettes, to undercut medical information on smoking’s risks. He said that initiative worked in concert with Milinkovich’s nicotine addiction to fuel her smoking.
“The addiction wants to perpetuate itself,” Schlesinger said. “The promises and the implied safety of filters, low-tars, and light (cigarettes) help perpetuate and give the addict doubt and denial. [It’s] a psychological crutch.”
The defense contends Milinkovich knew the risks of cigarettes, but enjoyed smoking and was never sufficiently interested in quitting in time to avoid her cancer. During Monday’s closings, Reynolds’ attorney, King & Spalding’s Cory Hohnbaum, reminded jurors of evidence Milinkovich tried to quit between 3 and 5 times across more than 55 years, for no more than a few hours at a time.
“A half a day, a couple of hours [total] not smoking [during quit attempts]? She spent a couple of hours watching the grandkids and not smoking.” Hohnbaum said. “She didn’t want to quit. She just didn’t want to quit.”
Kim Vaughan Lerner’s Robert Vaughan, representing Philip Morris, agreed, and added there was nothing connecting the tobacco industry messaging Schlesinger described with Milinkovich’s smoking decisions.
“Was there any credible evidence — any — that Ms. Milinkovich saw, let alone believed or relied upon any statement in furtherance of [a tobacco industry] conspiracy?” Vaughan asked. “Folks, there was no such evidence presented in this case. Absolutely none. Zero.”
Monday’s verdict was a significantly different result from the first trial in the case, in 2019. Then, jurors handed down a $10 million total verdict, including $6 million in punitive damages. That decision was ultimately reversed by the state’s Fourth District Court of Appeal.
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
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