Jury Awards $13M to Widow in Smoker Case
A Broward jury awards compensatory and punitive damages against R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris in Oakland Park butcher's lung cancer death.
March 26, 2015 at 08:50 PM
3 minute read
A Fort Lauderdale jury handed down a $13 million verdict for the widow of Paul Pollari, an Oakland Park butcher who smoked for about 50 years and died in 1994 after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Jurors awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages against cigarette manufacturers R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA in the trial before Broward Circuit Judge John Murphy III.
“This is another case involving a man who got addicted to cigarettes as a teenager when there were no warnings on cigarette packs and when more than 50 percent of doctors smoked,” said Kelley/Uustal attorney Todd McPharlin, who teamed with colleagues Eric Rosen and Kim Wald, as well as Alex Alvarez from the Alvarez Firm in Coral Gables, to represent Pollari's widow, Rose.
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