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Closing Arguments On Tap In Big Tobacco Trial

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Feb 12, 2009 11:29 am US/Eastern

Closing Arguments On Tap In Big Tobacco Trial

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ― A Broward County jury soon will decide the first of 8,000 lawsuits blaming health problems and deaths of Florida smokers on tobacco companies.

Closing arguments were set Thursday in a lawsuit filed by Elaine Hess, whose husband smoked for 40-years and died of lung cancer in 1997. She said he tried everything from nicotine gum to hypnosis to quit, but nothing worked. Lawyers for the tobacco company claim Hess was not addicted to their client's products and could have quit anytime.

That's the key for jurors. They have to decide whether Hess's husband Stuart was addicted to cigarettes or chose not to quit. If jurors find he was addicted, then they will have to decide on money damages.

Philip Morris acknowledged smoking's risks but contended Stuart Hess could have quit.

This lawsuit against Philip Morris is the first to go to trial since the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 threw out a huge $145 billion class-action jury award, ruling that each case had to be proven individually.

In their ruling, the state Supreme Court justices upheld the jury's findings that the tobacco companies sold dangerous products and deceived smokers about the addictive nature of smoking. To that end, the court ruled that the plaintiffs could sue the companies on an individual basis.

(© 2009 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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.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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