WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., July 21 (UPI) -- A Florida widow told a jury her relationship with her husband revolved around cigarettes from the time he asked her for one until he died of cancer.
Margaret Piendle's lawsuit is the first to go to trial in Palm Beach County since a Florida Supreme Court ruling in 2006 that overturned a 2000 verdict against the industry, The Palm Beach Post reported. The court found that smokers or their survivors would have to sue individually.
Piendle and her lawyers argue that the tobacco companies helped cause the death of her husband, Charles, by marketing an addictive product and hiding its health risks. Charles Piendle did finally quit smoking at 48, seven years before his death.
On the stand Tuesday, Piendle said she and her husband tried many times to kick the habit without success.
"As soon as I got out of bed, I wanted a cigarette," she said.
About 8,000 individual lawsuits have been filed in Florida since the 2006 ruling.
