I am proud that a jury of level headed fellow Mountaineers could sift through the BS on this case:
Monday January 7, 4:15 pm Eastern Time
West Va. judge rules smokers not to get new trial
NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - A West Virginia judge said last Friday that healthy smokers who want tobacco companies to pay for medical testing will not get a new trial, and analysts said on Monday that they did not expect the plaintiffs to win the chance for a new trial by heading to state supreme court.
Ohio County Circuit Judge Arthur Recht on Friday denied motions for a new trial filed by the plaintiffs in the case.
The motions were filed after a jury in the so-called Blankenship case in Nov. 2001 rejected a class-action lawsuit brought by the smokers, who wanted four cigarette makers to pay for annual health screenings.
``I don't see any basis to set aside the jury's verdict,'' Recht said, denying motions for a new trial filed by the plaintiffs, who said the jury erred in ruling in favor of the tobacco companies.
Industry analysts said that they were not surprised at the judge's ruling.
``The judge has to believe that somehow the findings of the jury were not supported by the facts presented, and I just don't think that's the case,'' said Rob Campagnino, tobacco analyst at Prudential Securities.
The plaintiffs had been trying to get the defendants -- Philip Morris Cos. Inc. (NYSE:MO - news), R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc.'s (NYSE:RJR - news) R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., British American Tobacco Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BATS.L) (AMEX:BTI - news) unit Brown & Williamson, and Loews Corp. (NYSE:LTR - news) unit Lorillard Tobacco -- to pay for the medical monitoring of some 250,000 healthy West Virginia smokers.
David Rodes, a Pittsburgh attorney who was a key member of the plaintiffs' legal team for the duration of the medical monitoring class action lawsuit, argued the motions Friday and said the jury was not instructed properly before deliberations and erred when it decided cigarettes are not a defective product.
After Recht denied his motion for a new trial Friday, Rodes said the plaintiffs would clarify their issues and present them to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
``Even if there's a new trial, it's likely that the industry would also prevail,'' said Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Bonnie Herzog.
The jury had also denied plaintiff allegations that cigarette makers were negligent in designing, manufacturing, and selling what amounted to defective products. The jury did find in favor of the plaintiffs on two counts: that smokers have an increased risk of illness and monitoring might aid in the detection of disease.
Plaintiffs in the case had consisted of people who smoked the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes a day for five years but had no symptoms of tobacco-related diseases. They sought annual tests for people beginning at age 45.
``It's obviously good news for the industry, probably not completely unexpected,'' Herzog said on Monday afternoon, when tobacco-related shares were largely trading higher.
``As usual, these things always get drawn out from both sides, so we'll just have to wait and see,'' she said.
(Additional reporting by Juliet Terry in West Virginia) |
