FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

Contact: Edward L. Sweda
 (617) 373-8462 or 857-753-9560

e-mail to media[at]tplp.org (use @sign)

Mach 9, 2009

SECOND CONSECUTIVE VICTORY FOR PLAINTIFFS IN
FLORIDA IN POST-ENGLE INDIVIDUAL LAWSUITS AGAINST TOBACCO COMPANIES.

Late on Friday March 6, 2009, a jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida returned a verdict for the family of Joseph Ferlanti, who died of lung cancer in 2004 after many years of smoking Chesterfield cigarettes.  The verdict for approximately $700,000 follows the $8 million verdict that a Fort Lauderdale jury rendered on February 18^th for the family of Stuart Hess, who died of lung cancer at the age of 55.  These are the first two verdicts in individual cases in the “Engle progeny” cases that followed the 2006 ruling by the Florida Supreme Court.  That decision allowed those who had been part of the Engle class action lawsuit to proceed with individual cases against the tobacco companies.

“This second consecutive plaintiff victory is an encouraging sign that the tobacco companies will be held accountable for their decades-long history of reprehensible misconduct,” said Edward L. Sweda, Jr., Senior Attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project (TPLP), a project of the Public Health Advocacy Institute, which is based at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston.

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The Tobacco Products Liability Project (TPLP) is a project of the Public Health Advocacy Institute assisting attorneys involved in tobacco-related litigation and informing the public about legal developments concerning tobacco products. The Public Health Advocacy Institute is committed to advocacy and research to further law in common cause with public health. PHAI is a non-profit corporation located at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts. More information about PHAI is available at www.phaionline.org.