A woman died from a respiratory disease because she smoked cigarettes. Thus, a Florida jury has awarded her family $9.75 million.
In 2020, 80-year-old Carolyn Long died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She had been diagnosed in the late 90’s after smoking for multiple decades and stopping in 2002.
Attorneys for Long’s husband, John, stated that Long had attempted to quit smoking for years but couldn’t stop.
“As you know, nicotine rewires the brain in powerful ways when you start that young. The tobacco companies knew this long before the public did and engineered cigarettes to be as addictive as possible,” they said.
Long’s husband stated that his wife’s sickness and ultimate death was because of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company’s plan to hide the truth about the consequences of smoking.
The attorneys argued that Reynolds’ untruthful advertising kept Long addicted to cigarettes. They said that for many decades Long smoked close to a half a pack per day. Then, she changed to a different brand, offering an “ultra light” difference to be healthier.
However, the lawyers said that those “light” cigarettes weren’t safe. It led Long to smoking more than a pack a day.
Representatives for Reynolds’ stated that Long smoked because she wanted to, not because of an addiction.
Jurors placed 60% of the blame on Reynolds and 30% on Long. The cigarette company Philip Morris received 10% of the blame although they weren’t a part of the lawsuit.
