LOS ANGELES — A federal jury has decided that cigarette maker Philip Morris USA should pay $13.8 million in punitive damages to the daughter of a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer.
The Los Angeles jury returned the verdict Monday in the case of Betty Bullock, who died of lung cancer in February 2003. The panel voted 9-3 in favor of her daughter, Jodie Bullock, now the plaintiff in the case.
Betty Bullock sued Philip Morris in April 2001, accusing the company of fraud and product liability. A jury in 2002 recommended Philip Morris pay a record $28 billion in punitive damages to Bullock, but a judge reduced the award to $28 million.
In 2008, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the jury’s decision and remanded the case for a new trial over the punitive damages. Philip Morris said the $28 million remained excessive.
However, the original jury ordered the tobacco company to pay Bullock $750,000 in damages and $100,000 for pain and suffering, a verdict that still stands.
Betty Bullock, of Newport Beach, started smoking Marlboros when she was 17 and later turned to Benson & Hedges, both Philip Morris products.
Attorneys for Philip Morris argued that Betty Bullock could have stopped smoking at any time and that the harmful effects of cigarettes were known to smokers.
Philip Morris is a unit of Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc.
