CA: Jury clears Philip Morris in wrongful death lawsuit

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A jury found Friday that tobacco maker Philip Morris USA is not liable for damages in the death of a man who smoked for 35 years.

The jury returned its verdict in the case of Fredric Reller of Marina del Rey, a longtime Marlboro smoker who first sued the company in Nov., 2001, alleging that Philip Morris misled him by failing, for years, to acknowledge that smoking is addictive and may cause cancer.

A jury cleared Philip Morris, the nation's biggest cigarette maker, last August of negligence and misrepresentation in the lawsuit, but deadlocked on one count claiming the company fraudulently concealed the dangers of smoking.

Reller died shortly after that verdict and his widow filed for a rehearing on the one deadlocked count. She also added a count of wrongful death and asked for damages in excess of $17 million.

"Based on evidence presented at trial, it was clear that the plaintiff's husband made an informed decision as to whether to smoke," William S. Ohlemeyer, Philip Morris USA vice president and associate general counsel, said in statement Friday.

Reller's attorney Michael Piuze said he and Mrs. Reller were "disappointed" at the jury's verdict.

"In his videotaped testimony taken before his death, he admitted that he was ashamed and embarrassed that he had believed Philip Morris lies and deceit that there was no valid scientific proof that their cigarettes caused lung cancer," Piuze said in a statement Friday.

Piuze won a major victory against Philip Morris in 2003 in the case of smoker Betty Bullock.

In that case, the company was ordered to pay $28 million to Bullock, who contended the company knowingly concealed the harmfulness of its cigarettes and manipulated the level of nicotine to keep its customers addicted. The award was reduced from an original jury award of $28 billion.

The day I buried my dad his mailbox was full of Phillip Morris solicitations to lobby for smokers rights. He died of lung cancer at 70 after smoking every Phillips Morris product they sold for over 50 years. He was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent radiation therapy. From the time that started until he passed (less than a year) he coughed up pieces of lung each day as his tissues decomposed. It was not pretty but he continued to smoke until the day he died. It had just become such a part of him he could not bring himself to want to quit.

I smoked 26 years and was only able to break the grip of nicotine addiction with the help of some non-tobacco smoking products. (I smoked 4 packs a day at the time) Everyone is different but for me it was a drug addiction nothing more or less. I wanted to quit but could not overcome the withdrawal effects. I need a crutch to let my body adjusto to no dope. 90 Dyas after I quit I developed Hives and spasms that were controlled medically for a couple of weeks while the old bod decided it wasn't going to get mor nicotine no matter how much it protested. Then I was "clean" and have never even wanted to try another cig. (used to follow smokers around just to get a whif though, smelled so good and familiar)

I understand why people smoke and you are right. You have every right to risk whatever awaits for the enjoyment of smoking. When it is your time you have no one to blame but yourself. Just be aware of the pain you may inflict on your loved ones...I still miss the years I could have spent with my father and so do his grandchildren. Also be aware of and sensitive to the really obnoxious effects you may have on non-smokers that inhabit the same space. Smokers really stink but they can't tell it..pew. and they make many other non-smokers (not your enemies because they chose not to smoke)eyes and breathing passages burn badly.

I have no regard what ever for Phillip Morris. They purposefully increased the nicotine content of their products to increased the addictive effect. They purposefully targeted their advertising to teenagers expressly to addict the most influenceable population that could provide an expanding longer lived market for their poison as their original market died off from related smoking diseases. They are scum.

However, I think you are right. You have the right to smoke as long as you can. Just don't expect sympathy when you begin coughing up parts of your lungs or for anyone else to shoulder the burden of financial support of your health care expense as you decompose. I'm not sure of my statistics but I think you have a few good years left before you reach the point where most lung cancers begin to show symptoms. Get regular checkups and let's hear back in say 10 years.

Really I bear you no malice. Enjoy. Take a deep drag and chill. After smoking for 26 years (have been clean for 20 years now) I can still remember the satisfaction of a deep draw after the meal.

I suspect if I die before 77, I will die from some other cause than smoking!

Quite possibly. As far as cancer goes - one guy I heard on the radio claimed that your don't die of cancer "caused" by cigarettes. His claim was that you die of cancer because you have a defective immune system.

His claim was that on any given day, you'll have many cancerous cells in your body - its just that your body will kill them off and dispose of them.

At times, they will be sufficiently aggressive that you can't - or your immune system will be sufficiently weakened that you cannof fight them. Whether cigarettes contribute to *that* is another issue, but his opinion was that cigarettes do NOT "cause" cancer - rather, it's a defective immune system that allows it to live.

Whatever. I smoked. I quit. I drank. I quit. Most of that was related to boredom anyway, in my case.

Listen, I can tell my lungs are already damaged and I am dying. When I sleep at night and I cough, my right lung makes popping noises if you can believe it. Don`t know if I have lung cancer, maybe I do, but I can tell you right now I won`t live very long. Nicotine is the most addictive drug on this planet. Malcolm X said when he was young he was addicted to every drug he could lay his hands on, heroin, cocaine, marijuana. He was able to quit all of them except nicotine.

The government bans drugs that are far less damaging and addicting, marijuana being number one, yet alcohol and nicotine, two of THE most harmful addictive drugs on this planet are kept legal solely to support this country. The melody of the National Anthem of this country is from an old beer drinking song, you watch TV, alcohol is promoted relentlessly, sports and alcohol are promoted relentlessly, yet alcohol destroys more lives than every other drug combined.

I use to work in a hospital and I can`t tell you how many people I met who were hospitalized because of alcohol. On the other hand I barely remember anyone hospitalized for any other drug. It was always cancer from smoking and failed liver from drinking.

The fact is everyone is responsible for their own behaviour. We live in a free society, and being that I am a nicotine junkie is nobodys fault but my own. This country may support itself by blood money. RINO Bloomberg of New York may tax the hell out of cigarettes to support New york liberal socialist programs and to cover leech lawsuits and pay phony union workman comp claims, but in the end everyone is responsible for their own health, and when I die from smoking and put my familiy in agony it is my own fault and I will never ask the government to ban cigarettes or alcohol or guns or anything else. In a free society, each man is a country unto his own. That is the price of freedom. I`m sorry your father died, but he is responsible for his death, not Phillip Morris or anyone else. You on the other hand quit and you are responsible for your continued good health.

Yep but teenagers the scum bags hook on nicotine (telling them all the while it is not addictive) are still scum bags. The fact is I could not have broken the addiction without the help of that product that mysteriously disappeared after a brief market appearance. Liggett Myers has tried to introduce a similar product but cannot call it a smoking cessation aid because the FDA will force them into trials that will never be approved (you understand the FDA, I can tell from your post.)
The fact is some of us are not strong enough to break the addiction that was started when "it was cool" to smoke and no damn warning was either on the package nor would probably have been heeded by a stupid teenager. I know 'cause I was one when I started. Don't get your back up at me. Smoke away. But don't pretend the tobacco companies had no part in purposefully addicting millions of people (mostly teens who are not noted for really great judgment) and that it was just purely a matter of choice. After you have made the dumba$$ mistake of beginning to smoke as a teen you find yourself hooked on something stronger than you are. And Phillip Morris and all the rest of them knew it, still know it, and are still hooking children on stuff that kills. To pretend it is only a matter of choice is pure Bovine Excrement and you know it deep inside. Like I said puff away , smell as bad as you like, but let's be honest about how all of us really got where we are. As you said nicotine is the most addictive drug on the planet. The conclusion from that statement with which I agree is logically the tobacco companies are the largest and most egregious dope pushers on the planet only they are legal. whoopee for the difference.Didn't mean to start a flame war. Have it you way but for those non-smokers who may read this please understand what you are dealing with before you think of starting.

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