On Friday the government announces GDP figures for January through March. In Tokyo, this is Jocelyn Ford for Marketplace. The lawyer with the best batting average when facing tobacco companies, Norwood Woody' Wilner, scored another one today, with a major verdict against Brown and Williamson, the number three cigarette company in the U.S. Tobacco stocks fell sharply on the news, with Philip Morris' drop of 4.66 percent contributing to the 78 point fall for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. From the Marketplace health desk, Madge Kaplan reports. Maddox's family was awarded more than half a million dollars in compensation.
Punitive damages are still to be determined.
The jury also found that Brown and Williamson made a defective product and conspired with other tobacco companies to suppress information about the dangers of smoking. Attorney Woody Wilner's 1997 win against Brown and Williamson is still on appeal. Andrew Popper teaches law at American University. He says today's verdict could mean the tide is turning against tobacco in the courtroom. During the Florida trial, company lawyers argued that Roland Maddox knew about the dangers of smoking but lit up anyway.