WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., June 17 (UPI) -- A Missouri jury Tuesday returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in an individual smoking and health case.
After deliberating six hours, the jury concluded that Reynolds Tobacco and two additional tobacco-company defendants are not responsible for the illness of Linda Welch, a smoker who claimed she developed lung cancer from smoking the RJR's' products.
The circuit court jury in Jackson County, Mo., agreed with Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA Inc. and the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. that there was ample evidence Welch had long been aware of the potential health risks of smoking, and she voluntarily assumed those risks in choosing to smoke.
The tobacco companies also maintained Welch could not conclusively prove that smoking caused her lung cancer.
