government
Missouri hospitals lose suit against tobacco companies
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 16, 2011
A St. Louis jury has ruled in favor of large tobacco companies in a lawsuit filed by 37 Missouri hospitals seeking compensation for treating patients with smoking-related illnesses.
The suit, which took more than 12 years to reach trial, sought about $455 million in damages from six large tobacco companies, including Philip Morris USA. After a nine-week trial, jurors on April 29 returned a 9-3 verdict in favor of the defendants.
A Philip Morris spokesman said the jury correctly rejected the hospitals' claims and confirmed that ordinary cigarettes are not negligently designed or defective. At this article's deadline, the hospitals had not indicated if they planned to appeal.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/05/16/gvbf0516.htm.