Nov 20, 2009 10:23 am US/Eastern
Jury Awards $300 Million To Fla. Smoker
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS) ―
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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Cindy Naugle, 61, won a record-breaking $300 million verdict against tobacco giant Philip Morris USA by arguing that the company concealed health information about its cigarettes.
The jury's award is one of the largest awards among the thousands of lawsuits filed in Florida against tobacco companies.
Late Thursday, the jury ordered Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris USA to pay Naugle $56 million in compensatory damages and $244 million in punitive damages.
Naugle and her attorneys said Philip Morris was responsible for her 25-year addiction to tobacco by hiding information about its adverse health effects. Naugle now suffers from acute emphysema. She is wheelchair bound and is dependent on an oxygen machine.
The company has said it would review the verdict.
About 8,000 similar lawsuits filed by Florida smokers and their families against tobacco companies will be making their way to courtrooms in around the state.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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