Philip Morris Ordered to Pay $300 Million to Ex-Smoker

A Florida jury has ordered tobacco company Philip Morris USA to pay $300 million in damages to a former smoker who said that using the company’s products caused her to develop emphysema and require a lung transplant.

The New York Times reported Nov. 21 that a Fort Lauderdale jury awarded $56 million in compensatory damages and $244 million in punitive damages to Lucinda Naugle, 61, who smoked regularly between the ages of 20 and 45.

Naugle’s case was one of scores that have sprung from the former Engle class-action lawsuit. The courts have tended to reduce big damages verdicts like this, and Philip Morris plans an appeal.

The jury said that Naugle was 10 percent liable for her illness and that the tobacco company was 90 percent responsible.