Individuals Can File Individual Smoking Lawsuits Against Cigarette Manufacturers, According to a Florida Supreme Court Ruling.

The Florida Supreme Court has made way for an estimated 300,000 to 700,000 Floridians made ill by smoking to have up to a year to bring individual smoking lawsuits against the cigarette industry. Tobacco companies negligently misled the public about the dangers of cigarettes' addictive nature.
Although the July 6, 2006, decision to throw out the $145 billion punitive damage award against tobacco companies seems like a big win for the cigarette industry, it gives private individuals the right to seek justice with compensatory damages. In a 79-page decision, the court reinstated an estimated $7 million in compensatory damages that the jury had awarded to two individual class representatives with lung cancer in an earlier trial.

The Florida jury determined that smoking cigarettes causes the following:

• Cervical cancer
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Coronary heart disease
• Esophageal cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Laryngeal cancer
• Lung cancer (specifically, adenocarcinoma, large-cell carcinoma, small-cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma)
• Pregnancy complications
• Oral cavity/tongue cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Pharyngeal cancer
• Stomach cancer

Additional jury decision findings include the following:

• Nicotine in cigarettes is addictive.
• Cigarette manufacturers put defective and unreasonably dangerous cigarettes on the market.
• Cigarette manufacturers obscured or omitted pertinent information not otherwise known or available, knowing that the material was false or misleading; failed to disclose a relevant fact concerning the health effects or addictive nature of smoking cigarettes; or both.
• All cigarette manufacturers agreed to misrepresent information relating to the health effects of cigarettes or the addictive nature of cigarettes, with the intention that smokers and the public would rely on this information to their detriment, and sold or supplied cigarettes that were defective.

There is a $600 million Trust Fund to be shared by Florida Smokers, Former Smokers and Survivors of Smokers, if a person or a deceased loved one meets certain criteria as of November 21, 1996. Some of the criteria for the Engle $600 million trust fund include:

Must have been a Florida resident on or before November 21, 1996

Must have or had a history of regular cigarette smoking prior to November 21, 1996.

Must have documented symptoms of a smoking related illness on or before November 21, 1996. Qualifying illnesses include: Kidney Cancer, Stomach Cancer, Stroke, Heart Attack, Lung Cancer, Emphysema/COPD, Throat Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Bladder Cancer, PVD/Buerger's.

If you or a loved one suffered from a smoking-related illness on or before November 21, 1996, please contact us for a free case evaluation by a qualified Florida Tobacco Lawyer that may be able to assist you in filing for the claim against the Florida Tobacco Engle Trust Fund.

Important Links regarding Cigarette Smoking

Tobacco Free Kids

American Lung Association

Florida Tobacco Prevention Program

Florida Supreme Court Litigation

Florida Supreme Court Press

Surgeon General News on Tobacco

CDC on Lung Cancer

CDC on Smoking and Tobacco Use

American Heart Association

American Cancer Society
 

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