RJR not Liable

A Florida state court jury has cleared R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. of responsibility for a long-time smoker’s cancer death.

The jurors concluded that nicotine addiction did not legally cause the lung cancer that killed Eugene Delancy in 1996. Delancy’s family has requested $3
million in compensatory damages plus a finding that punitive damages were warranted.

The case stems from Engle v. Liggett Group Inc., a 1994 Florida state court class-action lawsuit against Reynolds and other tobacco companies. The
state’s supreme court ultimately decertified the class but ruled the cases may be tried individually.

While plaintiffs in the so-called Engle progeny cases are entitled to the benefit of the jury’s findings in the original verdict, they must prove the smokers at the
heart of their cases suffered from nicotine addiction that caused a smoking-related illness.