Daughter of Smoker Beats Philip Morris -- Awarded US$13.8 Million

[mariomike]

"A Los Angeles jury has awarded Jodie Bullock US$13.8 million in her suit against tobacco company Philip Morris. Bullock was awarded the money because her mother was a lifelong smoker and died of lung disease.
The company had argued that Bullock could have quit at any time before she died in 2003, and that the harmful effects of smoking had long been known. The case has been in the courts for the last 8 years."
http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=80392

 

[gaspasser]

You HAVE got to be kidding me???       

Americans, it seems, can sue anyone for anything and numb nutted judges go ahead and allow the court battles to continue.  When will this form if idiot litigation cease?  :-\

 

[mariomike]

You HAVE got to be kidding me???       

I kid you not. I just took a carton over to my mother's house.
( Just KIDDING about the second sentence ).

 

[gaspasser]

Aaah, setting up Players for the big court date, huh?

I think the problem lies with the judges who let these actually get into court AND then rule for the plaintiff in a big way.  In my books, if your mom smoked and died, sorry for your loss but blame your mom NOT the cigarette company. That's up there with the multi-million award given to the women who spilled hot coffee on herself and sued McD's for giving her hot coffee!!
my  :2c:

 

[mariomike]

Aaah, setting up Players for the big court date, huh?

An older lady at work once told me she sent the tobacco company a thank you card when her husband passed away. There was no lawsuit, but there was a rather sizable life insurance policy. I got the impression that she didn't miss his company all that much.
Lawsuits are part of the cost of doing business. That cost, of course, is passed to we the consumers.

Sort of like a certain small car many years ago. It was alleged that its fuel tank was highly vulnerable in a rear end collision and that its doors jammed, thereby turning it into a potential barbecue. Allegedly, it was argued, the company decided it would be cheaper to pay off the resulting lawsuits than to fix the problem:
http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z11820/default.aspx
It does remind of a story I heard that back in the days when cars were made with a lot of wood and canvass and quite flamable ( sort of like old airplanes ) that the advice in the owner's manual was that in the event of fire, to floor the throttle. The assumption being that the speed increase would put out the flames. Sort of like putting an airplane on fire into a dive.