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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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WV Supreme Court Upholds Tobacco Verdict Rejecting Smokers' Medical Claims [05/07-1]
Excerpts from: High court backs tobacco verdict West Virginia jury had right to reject smokers' medical claims, state jurists say
Winston-Salem Journal [05/07/04]
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld yesterday a jury's decision that the tobacco industry should not have to pay for medical tests that could lead to the early detection of lung cancer and other health problems in about 270,000 healthy smokers.
The court voted 3-1 to reject the smokers' appeal, which argued that they deserved free, routine medical monitoring because the cigarette companies sold a defective product with no regard for their customers' health.
Attorney Scott Segal, who represented the smokers, said he was disappointed by the ruling, which marks the end of the long-running case.
"We're a very small state, and I'm very worried that union health and welfare funds, and small and medium businesses that have insurance for their employees are going to have to start paying for these very expensive tests - while these out-of-state tobacco companies are laughing all the way to the bank," Segal said.
The smokers' lawsuit, filed in Ohio County Circuit Court, contended that a screening program, paid for by the tobacco industry, could lead to early detection of lung cancer, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Their lawsuit, the first of its kind to be tried in the United States, also named as defendants Lorillard, Philip Morris and Brown & Williamson tobacco companies.
The jury ruled in November 2001 that cigarettes are not defective products and the companies have not been negligent in designing or manufacturing them. Jurors also found that tobacco companies should not be forced to provide free medical checkups to people who are at risk of becoming sick.
The court also rejected the smokers' argument that Circuit Judge Arthur Recht made a series of wrong decisions that gave the tobacco companies an unfair advantage with the jury.
Among the errors cited by the smokers was the exclusion of evidence showing that companies manipulated mechanized cigarette testing to produce lower tar and nicotine levels than a human smoker would inhale.
similar case was tried in Louisiana, where a jury ruled last summer that tobacco companies should pay for smoking-cessation programs but not medical monitoring for 1.5 million smokers and former smokers.
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