A jury awarded more than $5.3 million to the family of a woman who died from her addiction to cigarettes made by R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris.
Mary Goveia, 74, was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Orlando and died seven years later. The estate’s counsel claimed Goveia began smoking as a teen before health warnings were required on packs of cigarettes. The estate’s addiction experts testified her COPD was caused by smoking and the addiction contributed substantially to the disease.
