Trial Opens in Florida Widow’s Suit Against Tobacco Firms

February 4, 2009

  • February 4, 2009 at 2:51 am
    Dan says:
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    Here’s the scoop:

    “Elaine Hess, widow of 40-year smoker Stuart Hess, is the first of those plaintiffs to go to trial. Because of the previous findings on industry liability, the key to the case is proving whether her husband was addicted to cigarettes made by Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris, a unit of Altria Group.

    Hess attorney Adam Trop told a six-person jury that Stuart Hess, who died in 1997 of lung cancer at age 55, smoked about two packs of cigarettes a day and tried numerous times to quit. Trop said medical and other evidence shows that Hess became addicted to nicotine in the mid-1950s, long before the hazards of smoking were widely known outside the tobacco industry.” The Associated Press

    This guy was puffing since age 15 and continued for 40 years. You can’t retroactively apply medical knowledge in these cases. It’s just like asbestos. We’re still seeing suits from before anyone knew it was a problem. She should get nothing. What’s next? Filing suit against Columbia for failing to put a warning on cocaine?



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