US: Boynton Beach Woman Wins $6 Million Verdict Against Tobacco Company

Source from:  Palm Beach Post  06/23/2014

A 63-year-old Boynton Beach woman on Friday won a $6 million verdict from a Palm Beach County jury that found cigarette giant R.J. Reynold's Tobacco Co. responsible for her mother's death at age 58.

It took the jury of four women and two men just two hours to decide that R.J. Reynolds should pay Gwendolyn Odom millions for the pain of watching her mother, Juanita Thurston, die of lung cancer in 1993 after a lifetime of smoking. Further, the jury found that the tobacco company's conduct was so egregious it should pay punitive damages.

The jury is to return to court on Monday to decide how much more the company should pay. Evidence presented at the three-week-long trial showed the company manipulated nicotine levels in cigarettes to get people hooked and targeted advertising at young people.

Odom is the ninth person in the county — and one of roughly 75 statewide — to successfully sue a tobacco company for causing the death of a loved one. All of the cases grew out of 1994 class-action lawsuit. While a Miami jury awarded smokers and their families $145 billion, the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 threw out the award, ruling that every person had to prove unique damages in separate trials. About 4,300 cases are still pending.　Enditem