Pubdate: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 Source: Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel (FL) Copyright: 1999 Sun-Sentinel Company Feedback: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/services/letters_editor.htm Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Forum: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/interact1.htm Author: Scott Gold JURY - TOBACCO COMPANIES LIABLE IN DEATHS MIAMI - A year and a day after the trial began, a Miami jury on Wednesday ruled that tobacco companies not only manufactured "defective and unreasonably dangerous" cigarettes, but conspired to shield their considerable knowledge about the perils of smoking from the public. The landmark decision, which returns Florida to ground zero of the nation's tobacco wars, represents a largely symbolic but enormous victory for health advocates and anti-smoking activists. And the decision might not remain symbolic for long: The class-action suit now moves into punitive phases that could bring billions of dollars in awards against tobacco companies. "It's a devastating blow for them," said Edward Sweda, a senior attorney at the Tobacco Control Resource Center, a nonprofit organization in Boston that encourages the use of litigation to fight cigarette companies. "What's so painful for them today is that an American jury is holding them accountable for their actions. This jury, by their verdict, has given a very resounding message that tobacco's conduct over the past years has been reprehensible." For decades, smokers who claimed they were beckoned to disease by misleading advertisements and addictive chemicals were trounced in court by Big Tobacco's brigade of attorneys. Repeatedly, juries ruled that, while cigarettes are dangerous, smoking was a matter of personal choice. But the public's animosity toward cigarette companies has soared, a movement that many believe began in 1994, when seven tobacco executives stood, hands raised before Congress, and declared that they had no reason to think smoking was dangerous, nor that nicotine was addictive. Those declarations, most now agree, were misleading at best. Lawsuits brought by government agencies and individual smokers have uncovered hundreds of thousands of internal tobacco documents suggesting that tobacco manufacturers not only had a better handle on the perils of smoking than the government, but shielded that information from the public. One document described first-time smokers as "learners." Another suggested that young smokers might be tempted by menthol cigarettes to cool their throats after smoking marijuana. In the past year, individual smokers have made headway in pursuing legal claims against cigarette manufacturers. Analysts believe this, a class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of thousands of Florida smokers, is the next step. And they believe it could lead to an outbreak of similar lawsuits across the nation. All that's left to be discovered, said Clark Freshman, a law professor at the University of Miami, is whether Wednesday's decision is "a freak or whether it's a trend." "That's going to be the real question for tobacco," he said. "It92s a bad sign for the future of tobacco companies." The courtroom in downtown Miami, rimmed with velvet curtains and topped with ornate teak beams, was packed after the jury announced it had reached a verdict following seven days of deliberations. Their decision means that nine individual smokers, each representing a different disease linked with smoking, can seek punitive damages in coming months. By Scott Gold * Tobacco and health (transcribed text of graphic) About 1.1 billion people in the world are smokers 96 one-third of the global population age 15 and over Who smokes: Worldwide Developing Developed countries countries Men 47% 48% 42% Women 12% 7% 24% Tobacco and death toll estimates: 1996 3 million 2020 10 million Tobacco and diseases in 1995: Lung Cancer 514,000 killed Heart, other 625,000 killed vascular diseases Tobacco is a risk factor for some 25 diseases. Sources: WHO; news reports * Effects of nicotine (transcribed text of graphic) Brain Nicotine triggers release of tranquilizing morphine-like amino acids (endorphins) Spreads to nervous system within seconds Lungs Nicotine absorbed in blood Heart Heartbeat quickens Blood Vessels Vessels constrict, causing higher blood pressure Sources: American Lung Association, American Medical Association * Ingredients of cigarette smoke (transcribed text of graphic) Poisonous cigarette smoke Cigarette smoke contains around 4,000 different kinds of Chemical substances 96 more than 50 can cause cancer. What cigarette smoke contains: (sum) 25 kinds of alcoholic substances (sum) 55 acids (sum) Nitrogen bases (sum) Cadmium (sum) Arsenic (sum) Dioxin (sum) Formaldehypde (sum) Prussic acid (sum) Radium (sum) Thorium (sum) Polonium-210 (sum) Potassium-40 Most of the dangerous substances come from tar. Role of nicotine: Addictive effect of smoke caused mainly by nicotine Smoking of cigarettes without filter: (sum) 14-20% of nicotine is inhaled (sum) 90% of this nicotine is absorbed by body Smoking of cigarettes with filter: (sum) 5-12% of nicotine is inhaled (sum) 90% of this nicotine is absorbed by body - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea