"They knew that nearly all cigarette smokers are addicted,"
Philip Gerson, of Gerson & Schwartz, told the jury in Frazier v. Philip Morris closing arguments. Eighty to 90% of smokers are addicted, he said. "But they so stubbornly deny the fact that Phyllis was addicted that we had to spend so much of your time bringing in expert witnesses" to describe the biology and pharmacology of addiction, such as Dr. Neal Benowitz, who had written a hundreds of peer reviewed articles and book chapters on nicotine addiction.
Topics: Toxic Torts, Products Liability, Engle Progeny, Tobacco Litigation, Frazier v. Philip Morris
A child care center should not have been operated in an abandoned thermometer factory filled with hazardous waste, according to the plaintiff in Mignano v. Jim Sullivan. Almost one hundred children may have been exposed to highly toxic mercury vapors during the two years that the child care center operated.
Topics: Toxic Torts, Mignano v. Jim Sullivan, Mass Torts
Tobacco extended its Engle-progeny winning streak to three-in-a-row (Budnick, Warrick, and Willis) with a defense verdict today in Willis v. R.J. Reynolds.
Topics: Toxic Torts, Products Liability, Willis v. Reynolds, Engle Progeny, Tobacco Litigation
Plaintiff attorney Bruce Denson told the jury in Rohr v. R.J. Reynolds that Arthur Rohr smoked a pack a day for 50 years, adding, "No one smokes for 50 years who isn't to some degree addicted."
All the records agreed, said Mr. Denson, that Mr. Rohr died of metastatic lung cancer, which is caused by smoking. Although Mr. Rohr had a small skin cancer, the medical records indicated that the skin cancer apparently had not spread.
Topics: Toxic Torts, Products Liability, Engle Progeny, Rohr v. Reynolds, Tobacco Litigation
Engle-progeny tobacco defendants R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris extended their recent winning streak with a defense verdict today in Warrick v. R.J. Reynolds.
Topics: Toxic Torts, Products Liability, Engle Progeny, Warrick v. RJ Reynolds, Tobacco Litigation