Tobacco Industry to Fork Out Billions
The tobacco industry could potentially face a bill of billions after a court ordered a multi-million payout to a family in Florida.
Philip Morris USA had to pay 8 million to the widow and son of a chain smoker.
Although the court found the smoker 58% at fault, it also found that the tobacco company:
- showed a complete disregard for the smoker’s safety
- intentionally hid the risks of smoking from the public
The plaintiffs had sought 130 million in damages, so with a fine of eight million it might seem the tobacco company are getting off lightly.
However, the real problem for the tobacco companies lies not in this individual case, but in the 8000 pending cases, each of which must be trialled individually.
If this case gives any indication of what will be happening, it is bad news for the tobacco company – if compensation were to continue along the same lines the bill would come to 64,000,000,000 dollars!
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