Philip Morris Not Liable, Jury Rules
A Pennsylvania jury Monday absolved Philip Morris USA of liability in the death of a longtime smoker whose family had accused the company of concealing the hazards and addictiveness of its cigarettes.
The state court jury in Philadelphia ruled the company was not responsible for the death of Katie Carter, who began smoking in 1955, 11 years before warning labels first appeared on cigarettes. Diagnosed with lung cancer in 1997, she died a short time later at age 62.
The victory for the tobacco giant came on the day its parent company, Philip Morris Cos., formally changed its name to Altria Group Inc.
The Carter verdict was the second straight victory for cigarette makers after a series of heavy losses at the hands of lung cancer victims on the West Coast. Between them, Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. had suffered six straight courtroom losses in California and Oregon. Although trial judges trimmed the largest awards, the companies still face damage awards ranging from $21.7 million to about $106 million in those cases, all of which are on appeal.
The losing string ended this month when a federal judge in Oakland, nearing the end of a trial, dismissed a case against Philip Morris and RJR, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to sustain a jury award to the plaintiff.
The Carter case had been one of a record five U.S. tobacco trials going on simultaneously. The others are continuing in Sacramento and in New York, Illinois and Louisiana.
Philip Morris had announced the planned name change in November 2001. Executives said the change is meant to reflect the diverse nature of the firm’s businesses, including its majority stake in Kraft Foods North America and holdings in SABMiller, formerly Miller Brewing Co. Health groups have attacked it as an effort to scrub off the stain of tobacco, which provides most of the company’s profit.
Altria’s domestic and international tobacco companies will continue to be known as Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris International Inc. The firm’s stock symbol, MO, also will be unchanged.
In another development Monday, Vector Group Ltd., formerly known as Liggett, launched its low-nicotine Quest cigarettes in seven states and said it plans to introduce them in other markets this year.
The “intent here is to give the consumer a choice of getting nicotine out of their system; and once nicotine, which as we all know is very addictive, is out of one’s system, one can make a decision whether to quit or not to quit,” Vector Chairman and Chief Executive Bennett LeBow said.
Three varieties of Quest will be offered, including one with 17% less nicotine than the average “light”’ cigarette, another with half the nicotine content of the first and a third that is virtually nicotine-free. The cigarettes initially will be sold in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, Vector said.
Vector previously introduced Omni, which it bills as a lower-carcinogen cigarette, but it has not been a strong seller.
