Word: tobacco
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...According to a Los Angeles jury, his impending death can be blamed directly on Philip Morris, the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes. The reason? Boeken says he believed the company's long-standing insistence that cigarettes are not addictive. And while juries had long been skeptical of individual claims against tobacco companies - why didn't they just quit? - they now seemed more inclined to place the blame on the cigarette manufacturer...
...million in back pay and general damages. It is the largest award ever for an individual plaintiff. The plaintiff?s case was remarkable for its emotional appeal. Instead of leading the jury through a maze of sales charts and financial figures, Boeken?s team attacked the intentions of the tobacco giant, accusing it of a legacy of lies, deception and cold-hearted manipulation. The size of the award, say some legal analysts, is not reflective of a cut-and-dry concept of "fault," but rather of the public?s skepticism of the business of Big Tobacco...
...seeing juries getting angry and trying to send a message to the tobacco companies," says Mark Gottlieb, an attorney at the anti-cigarette Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University. "But we?re still at a point where the tobacco companies are winning more of these cases than they lose...
...This case saw Philip Morris attorneys adopt a new tack; they never denied the carcinogenic effects of tobacco and went so far as to admit their client "makes a dangerous product." Instead, they challenged the idea that PM is somehow responsible for an individual?s decision to smoke...
...news conferences, it seemed the defense attorneys were resigned to the idea of a jury award - the hope was to keep the money damages out of the stratosphere. That hope, of course, was dashed when the jury came back. Their verdict sent PM stock prices downward Thursday as the tobacco sector struggled to take in the psychological effects of such a large award...