Just one day after closing arguments, a Florida jury found Beck Redden client, Philip Morris USA Inc., not liable in a $17 million dollar trial over the lung cancer death of a longtime smoker. IADC member and Beck Redden Partner Kat Gallagher told jurors that the longtime smoker quit for weeks at a time, but always chose to begin smoking again.
“If she had quit in any of those time periods, we wouldn’t be here today because it is more likely than not, she would have never developed her lung cancer,” Gallagher argued. “Her choice to continue smoking after weeks of not smoking undercuts the plaintiff’s argument that she was hopelessly addicted.”
The $17 million dollar lawsuit filed on behalf of the widower stems from the 1993 lung cancer death of Barbara Meacham – a smoker for more than four decades. It is one of thousands of cases now in play across Florida resulting from the landmark Engle class action against several tobacco companies.
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