CIGARETTE MAKER JUDGMENT STANDS.Byline: Staff and Wire Reports California's Supreme Court has affirmed a state appeals court decision to slash in half a $100 million damage award against Philip Morris Inc. in a lawsuit by a smoker from Tarzana who later died of lung cancer lung cancer, cancer that originates in the tissues of the lungs. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States in both men and women. Like other cancers, lung cancer occurs after repeated insults to the genetic material of the cell. . The justices voted 5-0 on Wednesday not to review the decision by a 2nd District Court of Appeal in April, which reduced the damages in the civil trial to $50 million but also let stand $5.5 million in compensatory damages A sum of money awarded in a civil action by a court to indemnify a person for the particular loss, detriment, or injury suffered as a result of the unlawful conduct of another. to Richard Boeken. Boeken, a two-pack-a-day smoker since he was 13, died in January 2002. He was 57. In 2001, a Superior Court jury found Philip Morris guilty of negligence, misrepresentation misrepresentation In law, any false or misleading expression of fact, usually with the intent to deceive or defraud. It most commonly occurs in insurance and real-estate contracts. False advertising may also constitute misrepresentation. , fraud and selling a defective product. It awarded Boeken $3 billion in punitive damages Monetary compensation awarded to an injured party that goes beyond that which is necessary to compensate the individual for losses and that is intended to punish the wrongdoer. , which a judge later reduced to $100 million. The appellate panel further reduced that to $50 million in September. Attorney Michael Piuze said it would have been valuable to know what the justices' views on law surrounding punitive damages were in the case. He added that he was disappointed in the Court of Appeal's decision. ``Their analysis was fine right up to the point where it was time to put money on the table,'' Boeken said. No one was available for comment after business hours BUSINESS HOURS. The time of the day during which business is transacted. In respect to the time of presentment and demand of bills and notes, business hours generally range through the whole day down to the hours of rest in the evening, except when the paper is payable it a bank or by a Thursday at the offices of Philip Morris' parent, Altria Group Inc. in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . During the trial, Boeken testified that he was the victim of a tobacco industry campaign that portrayed smoking as ``cool'' but concealed its dangers. Before his death Boeken said his experience with cigarettes began in the 1950s. Both of his parents smoked, and he was tempted by the flashy ads on television to try it himself in his childhood home in Studio City. ``I was home watching TV and my parents were out,'' Boeken said in a June 2001 interview with the Daily News. ``I picked up a butt from an ashtray and lit it up.'' By the time he was 15, he was smoking two packs a day, which didn't seem strange to him. His teachers smoked; smoking was allowed in restaurants, ballparks, supermarkets, even hospitals. In 1999 doctors told him he had lung cancer and little chance of survival. He quit smoking after lung surgery Lung Surgery Definition Lung surgery includes a variety of procedures used to diagnose or treat diseases of the lungs. Biopsies are performed to extract a small amount of tissue for diagnosis, resections remove a portion of lung tissue, and other , undergoing extensive chemotherapy and racking up more than $12 million in medical bills. |
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