Richard Boeken, 57; Won Largest Tobacco Lawsuit

From a Times Staff Writer

Richard Boeken, a lung cancer victim who won a record $100-million damage award against cigarette maker Philip Morris last year, died Wednesday at his home in Topanga. He was 57.

The cause of death was cancer.

Boeken began to smoke as a teenager more than 40 years ago, when warning labels on cigarette packages were not common practice and TV ads portrayed smokers as virile and cool.

A self-employed dealer in oil and gas securities, he was diagnosed in 1999 with lung cancer that later spread to his brain.

He sued Philip Morris, which made his favorite brand, Marlboro. Last June, a Los Angeles jury ordered the tobacco giant to pay more than $3 billion in damages. A few months later, a judge reduced the award to $100 million, while upholding an additional $5.54 million in compensatory damages. The $100 million is the largest judgment against a tobacco company in a lawsuit by a single smoker.

Attorneys for Philip Morris argued that Boeken should have been aware of the dangers of smoking because of widespread anti-smoking publicity. The company is appealing the award.

But in his ruling, Superior Court Judge Charles W. McCoy Jr. said the tobacco company’s efforts to hide scientific information about the health risks of smoking were “reprehensible in every sense of the word.”

He wrote that Philip Morris had failed to accept responsibility for the “devastating and widespread” consequences of its conduct on people like Boeken.

Boeken is survived by his wife, Judy; their son, Dylan; stepsons Damien and David Petralli; and three grandchildren.

A memorial will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at Kehillat Israel Synagogue, 16019 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades. The family requests that any donations be made to the American Cancer Society.