A federal court jury in Florida awarded USD 41.1 million (EUR 32.4 million) to former smoker Kenneth Kerrivan after finding Philip Morris USA and RJ Reynolds Tobacco concealed the dangers and addictiveness of smoking, the plaintiff’s attorneys said.

Kerrivan suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and requires oxygen around the clock, according to Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, a solicitors’ practise based in Nashville, Tennessee. He developed the disease in 1993 as a result of a lifetime of smoking that began at age 14, the court was told. Kerrivan smoked filter cigarettes, lights and ultra-lights in the belief that they were safer products, his attorneys said in a statement. The case is one in a series of so called Engle suits, named after a deceased Florida physician.
Awarded damages include USD 15.8 million in compensatory damages, punitive damages of USD 15.7 million against Philip Morris USA and USD 9.6 million against RJ Reynolds.