Fla. jury awards $5.3M in tobacco suit

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A jury in Florida awarded $5.3 million in compensatory damages to a 92-year-old man whose wife died of lung cancer.

The jury in Broward Country Circuit Court in Fort Lauderdale decided Thursday that Philip Morris USA should compensate Leon Barbanell in the death of his wife, Shirley, who died in 1996 at age 73, The Miami Herald reported Friday.

Barbanell's attorney, Steven J. Hammer, said his client was "very satisfied" by the decision.

Philip Morris said in a statement it planned to appeal.