BUSINESS BRIEFING / TOBACCO
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Philip Morris was ordered by a jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to pay $8 million in damages to the widow of a smoker who died of lung cancer in a case that could set a standard for some 8,000 similar Florida lawsuits.
The six jurors deliberated over two days before returning the award for Elaine Hess, 63, whose husband, Stuart Hess, died in 1997 at age 55 after decades as a chain smoker.
The award amounts to $3 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages against Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris USA, a unit of Altria Group Inc.
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