Philip Morris loses $28B suit

[thop]

Philip Morris Cos., the No. 1 cigarette maker, was ordered Friday to pay a record $28 billion to a 64-year-old woman with lung cancer who blamed her tobacco addiction on the company's failure to warn her of the risks of smoking.

that must be a joke no? if not lawyers all around the US are dancing samba today.

[Kastuvas]

Hehe no comment.

[ZokesPro]

That ridiculous!

How can someone sue for so much?

[az]

TWENTY-EIGHT BILLIONS!?!?!?

I'm sure she will be the richest woman in the world.

But this really is ridiculous. It's an absolutely ridiculous amount of money, and, as much as I dispise those drug lords: Common sense should tell you that setting ANYTHING on fire and inhaling it, particularly when it doesn't taste good and leaves a yellow film on things CAN'T be good for your health.

AZ

[K6-III]

Lawsuits in general, as a form of vengence, I find to be distasteful....now this is simply ridiculous...

[KvHagedorn]

What I find distasteful is that my mother died from that without a penny of compensation, and others have had and are having their lives ruined in the exact same way. How does making one woman and her lawyers billionaires compensate for these ongoing crimes?

[Dr Mordrid]

1. that level of award will never stand up to appeal.

2. is she illiterate? EVERY pack of cigarettes sold in the US virtually hits you over the head with health risk warnings and have for over 30 years.

Now before anyone strokes out remember that;

1. I'm a retired health care worker

2. I'm asthmatic

It's just that I don't think people who should have known better deserve tort relief.

This is another example of why we need tort reform in this counrty

Dr. Mordrid

[CHHAS]

I just can't see why you can actually sue someone for your own stupidity.

[az]

I can't see why they should have to pay - it's not that selling cigarettes was illegal (Unethical, maybe, but perfectly legal). If they now have to pay for this, that must mean that selling cigarettes now is illegal (since they can't make them pay for something they've done in the past when it was legal, or is the american legal system THAT screwed up?)

AZ

[Oboy]

The thing that makes me mad is that no one from Philip Morris, or any other tobacco Co. put that first smoke in my hand! It was a decision that I made. Yes, back when I started they didn’t know what the full effects of smoking would be, but when the findings came out I had a choice on whether to keep smoking or not! It was up to me and I didn’t have anyone but me making that decision. No one from the tobacco industry was there telling me what I should do or not do. It was up to me!

I think our legal system needs to be revamped. This type of thing has gone on way to long!

Oboy

[ZokesPro]

Originally posted by CHHAS
I just can't see why you can actually sue someone for your own stupidity.

If I could sue for my own stupidity, well, let me put it this way, I would probably be in the hospital recovering from a dumb accident that you would probably end up seeing on the show "RealTV" but I'd be stinking rich!!!

But on a serious note, tobacco is disgusting to begin with, I have yet to smoke a cigarette! If something is gross the first time, to me it ain't gonna get better the next time!

[az]

I think the american legal system is making people dumb, because they don't have to think for themselves - they are like big children, and the adults (=someone else) is to blame if something goes wrong. We kind of have this attitude here, and I think it comes from having been occupied for so long (but that's only speculation, and, for the record, I AM glad that there were troops stationed here, and I certainly am glad for all the help we did receive after the war). People think less and less, because they're not responsible. I mean, I KNOW that it will not be good for my cat to put it in the microwave to dry it, when I normally use it to make hot meals. Nobody would dry their hamster in a pan, and I really don't see the big difference. But common sense isn't found all too often anymore.

AZ

[Dogbert]

This is awful.

I know people who'd agre to be executed right now for such a sum of money. (knowing their beloved ones will be economicly well off for 10 generations ahead).

[Joel]

This is the old poor little pityful me againist the big evil corporations. Who do you think is usually going to win. Just look at the slaves reparations movement. They couldn't get anything out of the government or the general taxpayer so now they are going after big corporations that might have profited in one form or another from the slave trade. It's all about getting something for nothing and not accepting personal responsibility.

Joel

[Belwarrior]

This is a very bad precedent... Just about anyone who had lung/throat/etc cancer could now sue the tobacco companies and everyone affected should get $28Billion coz they all going to die from the same condition.. (I mean for example if the minimum sentence for murder is 14 years then every murderer must get a minimum of 14 yrs)
I think the tobacco companies must be kicking themselves coz i believe they thought they had done the legal thing by pasting "Smoking is Hazardous to Health" on every pack of cigarettes.

God sometimes i wish i was in USA, you can never do this kind of thing here in singapore.
singapore senario:
Judge : Madam, Have you read the health warning on the cigerette packet?
a) The Lady : Yes
a) Judge : Then I am sorry i cant help you, madam as you chose to ignore the health warning.
OR
b) The Lady : No
b) Judge : Madam, by not bothering to or by choosing to ignore the warning on the cigerette packet and all the no smoking campaigns on every available media, you have given up your right to sue Philip Morris.

PS: Philip Morris would be better off if they had opted run their case in singapore where a lot of foreign companies regularly file their cases as singapore is considered neutral. This is quite a common practice for companies from the commonwealth nations.