West Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Jury Verdict in Favor of the Tobacco Industry in Medical Monitoring Case
May 06 2004 - 6:09PM
PR Newswire (US)
West Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Jury Verdict in Favor of the
Tobacco Industry in Medical Monitoring Case WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.,
May 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tobacco manufacturers won an
important appeal in the West Virginia Supreme Court today. The
court affirmed a jury's 2001 verdict that U.S. cigarette companies
should not have to pay for medical monitoring for healthy current
and former smokers in the state. The class-action case, called
Blankenship, was filed on behalf of an estimated 250,000 West
Virginia smokers who did not claim that they were ill or that they
were unable to quit smoking. Rather, they alleged that smoking
cigarettes placed them at an increased risk of contracting serious
diseases. This was the first case of its type to go to trial. In
affirming the jury's decision, the court found that there was not a
"serious challenge to the jury's conclusion ... that exposure to
[cigarette smoke] does not 'make it reasonably necessary for all
class members to undergo periodic medical examinations different
from what would be prescribed in the absence of exposure.'" Jeff
Furr, the attorney for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company who served as
the lead trial counsel for the tobacco industry, said, "The jury
sent a clear message with its verdict: Tobacco companies are not
liable for the inherent risks associated with smoking, and if
smokers are concerned about those risks, they should quit -- not
sue and continue to smoke. The West Virginia Supreme Court simply
refused to upset the jury's verdict, rejecting the notion that
healthy smokers and former smokers need, or would benefit from, the
medical monitoring program that was proposed by the plaintiffs'
lawyers." R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJRT) is a wholly owned
subsidiary of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RJR). R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Company is the second-largest tobacco company in
the United States, manufacturing about one of every four cigarettes
sold in the United States. Reynolds Tobacco's product line includes
four of the nation's 10 best-selling cigarette brands: Camel,
Winston, Salem and Doral. For more information about RJRT, visit
the company's web site at http://www.rjrt.com/ . DATASOURCE: R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Company CONTACT: Ellen Wallace of R.J. Reynolds
Tobacco Holdings, Inc., +1-336-741-6694, or cell, +1-336-829-9189
Web site: http://www.rjrt.com/
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