Judge awards $15 million in damages in tobacco case against R.J

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Accusing tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds of failing to "repent of its ways," a federal judge awarded $15 million in punitive damages Friday to a former smoker who lost his legs to a circulatory disease he blamed on cigarettes.

The order came after a jury in February awarded David Burton compensatory damages of $196,416.

Burton, 67, smoked for 43 years, beginning as a teenager, until 1993, when a circulatory disease forced doctors to amputate his legs. He sued R.J. Reynolds in 1994, accusing it of concealing the dangers of smoking.

U.S. District Judge John W. Lungstrum said Reynolds' concealment of the addictiveness of cigarettes was "particularly nefarious."

"The evidence does not reflect that Reynolds has repented of its ways. Its only grudging -- and questionably sincere -- concessions to the scientific evidence have been wrung from it through settlements of hotly contested lawsuits," the judge said.

"It persists in its free-choice mantra. Reynolds has not even said in any sincere and convincing fashion that it is sorry for what it did or what happened to Mr. Burton."

He added: "In many respects, this is the most disturbing aspect of this case and one which merits stiff punishment."

Reynolds called the award "excessive and unwarranted." The tobacco company argued that Burton's health problems had more to do with his poor eating habits and his drinking, and said the dangers of tobacco were well-known when he started smoking.

Burton said he was pleased with the award, but "receiving it is another thing, 'cause it'll probably be another two years. Ten years I've been waiting, almost, just to go to court."

Though smoker lawsuits against tobacco companies are common, only a few plaintiffs have ever won against the tobacco industry.