Smoker Blames His Cancer on Asbestos Filter

A Kent cigarette filter that contained asbestos in the 1950s poisoned smokers instead of protecting them, a lawyer told a federal court jury Tuesday in a liability case.

Stockbroker Peter Ierardi, who has incurable cancer, switched to Kent cigarettes nearly four decades ago because of an advertised claim that the Micronite filter was safe, said his lawyer, Tom Johnson. But the defense said the filter did not cause Ierardi’s cancer.

From 1952 to 1956, the Kent filter contained a type of asbestos called crocidolite asbestos.

“The evidence will show that filter, rather than providing protection, provided poison,” Johnson told the eight-member jury in his opening argument.

Johnson said he would show electron-microscope photos of the filters after they were tested in a lab.

“You will see particles of crocidolite hanging off the end of the filter, waiting to be sucked into the lungs of people like Peter Ierardi,” he said.

Johnson said Ierardi, 56, has incurred medical bills of $165,000.

The trial is expected to last between two and three weeks.

The lawsuit seeks at least $200,000 in damages from Lorillard Inc., the nation’s fourth-largest cigarette company and maker of Kents, and Hollingsworth & Vose, which made the filters.

The suit is unusual because it deals with asbestos, rather than the hazards of smoking. Anti-smoking advocates say a victory for Ierardi could lead to a flood of liability lawsuits against the tobacco industry.

Lawyers wouldn’t say how many of the eight jurors were smokers, past or current.