The Third District Court of Appeal in Florida reversed and remanded a $43 million jury verdict against the tobacco giant Phillip Morris in a wrongful death and strict liability case brought by the estate of one, Norma K. Lipp, who had died of lung cancer after smoking PM USA's filtered cigarettes for years. The appellate court held that certain hearsay testimony was wrongfully admitted at trial.

Background

Norma K. Lipp, a long-term smoker of PM USA's filtered cigarettes, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1992 and succumbed to the disease a year later. Her estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that PM USA's fraudulent actions contributed to her death. The case went to trial in March 2020, but the trial court declared a mistrial because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The case was retried in August 2021. Throughout the trial, key testimonies came from Norma Lipp’s sons, who shared their mother's experiences and her belief in the misleading advertisements by PM USA. These advertisements claimed that filtered cigarettes were safer, a belief that Norma Lipp held until her diagnosis. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Estate and against PM USA, awarding $3.75 million in compensatory damages each to the husband and three children of