RECORD AWARD SHOULD SEND WAKE UP CALL TO TOBACCO INDUSTRY
March 31, 1999
Huge–not just in size but also in significance. That’s how Caroline Forell, University of Oregon law professor, characterizes the March 30 verdict by a Portland jury, ordering Philip Morris to pay $81 million to the family of a man who died after smoking Marlboros for four decades. "This verdict and a similar one earlier this year in San Francisco will throw open the floodgates to many more individual lawsuits against tobacco companies," says Forell. The verdicts indicate that the landscape has changed drastically in tobacco liability cases, which Forell says is due to a couple of factors. "One factor is that juries now have access to documents that show the tobacco companies knew about the cancer-causing potential of their product and lied or withheld that information from their customers," she says. "The other factor is last year’s multi-billion-dollar settlement between the tobacco industry and 46 states that no doubt leads juries to believe that the industry has acknowledged culpability." Forell predicts the industry will intensify its efforts to stem the tide of these lawsuits by seeking relief from Congress in the form of damage limits. As for the Portland verdict, Forell expects it will be at least five years before the appeals process runs its course and the family receives any compensation. SOURCE: Caroline Forell, professor of law, UO School of Law, (541) 346-3864; e-mail cforell@law.uoregon.edu.—30—
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