Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Non-Tech : Philip Morris - A Stock For Wealth Or Poverty (MO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: S. M. SAIFEE who wrote (4039)	6/26/1999 7:31:00 PM
From: Theo Karantsalis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6439

Good news on top of good news. Theo Friday June 25, 7:31 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release Philip Morris and R. J. Reynolds Laud Geiger Decision Class-Action Case Should Guide Other Courts NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 25, 1999--Today's decision by a Queens, N.Y., court rejecting class certification in the closely watched Geiger case is consistent with the facts and the law, and Philip Morris U.S.A. and R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company expect it will be followed across the country where similar cases are pending. Plaintiffs in the case had sought class certification for New York state residents who were alleged to have contracted lung and throat cancer as a result of cigarette smoking. ''At best for the plaintiffs in this type of tobacco case, the application for class certification was brought in the wrong action at the wrong time,'' the court said in its 29-page opinion. The decision is important because it shows, once again, that courts recognize that a class action by smokers claiming damages for alleged injuries should not be certified. The ruling follows numerous decisions by state and federal courts in tobacco cases, as well as a 1997 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Amchem case. ''The decision in Geiger is eminently sensible, and it should show the way for other courts still considering class-action treatment in these actions,'' said Hugh Whiting, attorney for R. J. Reynolds, one of the tobacco defendants in the case. The tobacco company defendants had urged the New York court to follow the landmark 1996 Castano ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as well as other federal and state court decisions because certifying massive class actions such as these could easily overwhelm court systems. ''These cases, after all, are truly individual in nature. This is true because everyone, every smoker is unique and all of these claims simply cannot be resolved in a single case or a single trial,'' said John J. Mulderig, associate general counsel for Philip Morris.