$55-Million Lawsuit Against Cigarette Maker Thrown Out

A federal judge on Friday threw out a $55-million liability suit against R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., saying a 51-year-old amputee failed to prove the company’s cigarettes were more dangerous than a consumer should expect.

Plaintiff Floyd Roysdon, 51, of Oneida, contended that a lifetime of smoking the company’s Camel and Winston cigarettes had caused problems with his circulatory system that led to the amputation of his left leg in 1983.

But U.S. District Judge Thomas G. Hull, in announcing his summary judgment in favor of R. J. Reynolds, said: “Tobacco has been used for over 400 years and its characteristics and qualities have been fully explored. The question . . . is not what Mr. Roysdon knew or did not know about the danger of smoking. The question is what an ordinary consumer would be expected to know.”