ANCHORAGE — A cigarette maker says a jury in Bethel has returned a unanimous verdict in its favor in a smoking death lawsuit.
Philip Morris USA announced in a release that the jury verdict came Wednesday.
Delores Hunter of Marshall accused Philip Morris USA Inc. of making and marketing cigarettes even though they knew the products were addictive and caused cancer. She was the common law wife of Benjamin Francis. The complaint, which sought more than $100,000, said he died in 2006 of lung cancer.
Her lawyers didn’t immediately return phone calls, and there was no listing for her.
Murray Garnick, of Philip Morris’s parent company Altria Group Inc., says the jury determined the cigarettes weren’t defective, and Francis was “responsible for his own smoking decisions.”
Comments (15)
Add commentGOOD! Even a brain dead
GOOD! Even a brain dead SEACC member knows that smoking is not good for you.
It is past time for Americans to buck the left-wing trend, & take responsibility for their actions.
I sure like...
...this 'Ignore' feature!
Ignore button:
All that you are doing by hitting the “Ignore button” is keeping you’re head in the sand. I disagree with most of what you have to say Lat. But I don’t ignore you, I respect you’re comments and will continue to read them.
However Madison is spot on.
I don't understand. If they
I don't understand. If they were accused of marketing and making a product that they know causes cancer, how did they win? Surely they know their products cause cancer? Or was the lawsuit simply about who was to blame for the man's death?
"If they were accused of
"If they were accused of marketing and making a product that they know causes cancer, how did they win?"
So if that's a true statement, why doesn't every smoker have cancer?
Gee, I don't know, Calypso.
Gee, I don't know, Calypso. Why doesn't everyone who has a heart attack die? The answer must be that heart attacks don't cause death.
Horrrible horrible company.
Horrrible horrible company. They could care less about the lives of their victims. If there is a hell, theres no doubt there is reserved seating for these folks.
This is just my opinion but..
It seems that if a person starts smoking(nowdays), there is no way they could not know it is harmful. No one put the cigarette in his hand and forced him to inhale. He did it on his own. Everyone should take responsibility for the choices they make.
We've had warning signs on
We've had warning signs on cigarette packages since 1966. If you smoke, and you end up with cancer that can be attributed to smoking, you've got nobody to blame but yourself.
YEEEAAA
they should dismiss all these money grabbing lawsuits. Next the trial lawyers will move on to auto companies that make a product that knowingly exceeds speed and safety limits.
Please. While it's silly to
Please. While it's silly to sue a cigarette company for giving you cancer, this person's husband died. Have a little compassion. If someone close to you dies from something, it's only natural to want to punish those you think are responsible.
oh, so it's okay to tie up
oh, so it's okay to tie up the courts with these kinds of ridiculous law suits. These tobacco suits are right up there with the hot coffee suits.
akbrdguru
The hot coffee lawsuit you bring up...you should look into the details of it.
Basically you have bought into the corporate story of the hot coffee lawsuit.
My dad died suddenly a few years ago....
he was a smoker for a really long time. He knew it was not good for him. There are other way smoking damages your body, other than lung cancer. I will admit that I thought, for a brief moment, I could sue the doctors for not keeping him alive or at least investigate his death. But in the end he was not as healthy as he could have been and smoking contributed to his death, somewhat indirectly but it did. The bottom line is each person is responsible for their own actions.
Those feelings of "revenge or retaliation" usually come around when I miss him. Which is quite often.
If you are willing to cause pain to yourself and your family then light em up.
already pai
PM has paid out millions already but it hasn't done much. Washington state gots millions and they squandered it away, like many states did. Very sad the deaths they have caused but like an earlier post said, there have been warning labels since the 60's. They don't call them "cancer sticks" for nothing.
let's raise the sin tax again
I support smokers' rights to ingest whatever poisons they want into their bodies.
I don't support their 'right' to have the byproducts of their addiction infiltrate my body. I consider it nothing less than assault.
I think we should raise tobacco taxes by $2/pack every year until they are $20/pack. Every time it comes up on a ballot, it will win.
That'll be more revenue for CBJ, and since the addicts will buy cigarettes before they buy food, then eventually, they will starve to death.