Arkansas Man Wins Tobacco Decision

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. must pay an Arkansas man more than $9 million for his wife’s death from cancer, a federal appeals court in St. Louis said in a ruling made public Monday.

The court upheld an Arkansas jury’s verdict that Pall Mall cigarettes were defectively designed and caused the fatal lung cancer of Mary Jane Boerner, who smoked the cigarettes for 36 years. The court also cut the punitive damage award to $5 million from $15 million.

“The evidence indicates that American Tobacco manufactured, marketed, and sold Pall Mall cigarettes containing excessively high levels of carcinogenic tar and lacking effective filter technology,” the court said, referring to Pall Mall’s manufacturer, whose assets and liabilities are now owned by R.J. Reynolds, a unit of Reynolds American Inc.

If it’s not overturned, the decision may make it easier for cigarette makers to be sued by smokers who claim their cigarettes were more dangerous than other brands. Russell Marlin, Boerner’s Little Rock, Ark., lawyer, said the verdict was the first favoring a plaintiff in a smoking and health case in the state.

R.J. Reynolds is reviewing the ruling and plans to pursue “all of our available appellate options,” spokesman David Howard said.

The company may ask for a review of the decision by the entire appeals court or by the U.S. Supreme Court, Howard said.