$8 Million Winning In Court from R.J. Reynolds
A smoker for Connecticut who has developed larynx cancer has won $8 million from Tobacco Company. David Golub is the attorney for Barbara Izzarelli of Norwich and she has won the award from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co which is producer of Camel cigarettes. The trial was two weeks. The attorney said that a judge is going to decide other punitive damages next month and this could bring the award to $24 million.
Barbara Izzarelli is a very interesting woman and has overcome remarkable adversities, her lawyer said. David Howard, spokesman for R.J. Reynolds affirmed that the company was disappointed and is planning to appeal. Howard said that they have much confidence in this case.
Izzarelli is now 49 and has smoked Salem cigarettes for more than 25 years. She underwent surgery at 36 which has the result of removal of her larynx. Now she has to breathe through a whole in her throat and does not have the sense of smell. She can eat only soft food.
The woman said that she is ecstatic and now she can go to any doctor that she wants to improve her health. In Connecticut this was the first case against a tobacco company and was the first jury verdict against a tobacco company in New England. Golub thinks that now people will bring more of these cases to court.
In the last period of time tobacco companies consider these verdicts against them in florida as an aberration. Dr. K. Michael Cummings said that the verdict in Connecticut shows tobacco firms will be held liable around the country, said Dr. K. Michael Cummings. He is senior research scientist at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo and the head of the New York State quit line. He testified in Florida cases and as an expert in the Connecticut case.
In February, a judge in Florida reduced $300 million in damages awarded to a smoker against Philip Morris USA, which is the maker of Marlboro brand to nearly $39 million, concluding a jury was moved by emotion rather than hard evidence. The $300 million had been the highest damage award among other thousands of lawsuits which were held in Florida and where smokers sued tobacco companies.
The court from Florida said that each smoker’s case has to be solved individually against tobacco companies, because they knew how dangerous smoking is and didn’t tell all of these to the public. Golub said that R.J. Reynolds made the Salem cigarettes but they are very dangerous and the company didn’t act right for the costumers safety. The trial has established that Reynolds had undertaken a campaign to sell Salem cigarettes to minors in the years of 1970. This was made to establish a long-term customer base, Golub affirmed. Golub said that Barbara was attracted by this product when she was 12 years old, the product were designed especially to addict kids including her.
Howard denied the company targets youths. He affirmed that cigarettes have come with health warnings since the 1960s. The jury found Izzarelli’s damages to a total amount of $14 million , but said that both Izzarelli and Reynolds were responsible for what happened and allocated responsibility 42 percent to Izzarelli and 58 percent to Reynolds, and her award was reduced from $13.9 million to $8.0765 million.