Altria, Cigarette Makers Lose Appeal Affecting 4,000 Florida Lawsuits

Source from:  Bloomberg News 07/23/2010

Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA unit and other U.S. cigarette makers lost an appeal affecting about 4,000 Florida smoker suits in federal court. A federal appeals court in Atlanta today denied the companies' request to block lower courts from applying a 2006 Florida Supreme Court decision they claimed deprived them of fair trials in death and injury suits filed in the state. The companies said that a series of factual conclusions endorsed by Florida's highest court in the 2006 "Engle" decision can't fairly be used against them in individual smokers' trials. The findings included those that cigarette makers conspired to hide information on smoking's health effects and that they made false statements about their products. The federal court said the findings "must be given the same preclusive effect in this federal court case that they would be given if the case were in state court." Besides the 4,000 cases in federal courts, another 4,000 are being tried in state courts. Plaintiffs have won most of those that have been tried. The case is: Brown v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 08- 16158, 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Atlanta). Enditem