B&W Prevails

LOUISVILLE, Ky.Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. won a victory in Connecticut state court in a case involving a smoker who died due to lung cancer, the company said.According to Brown & Williamson, a State Superior Court Judge threw out the case when he granted the company's motion for a directed verdict in the product liability case.The judge found no way under Connecticut law for the plaintiff to try the case, a Brown & Williamson spokesman said. The plaintiffs' claim alleged that Arlene Dujack's death due to lung cancer was caused by smoking KOOL cigarettes, a Brown & Williamson product.In the case, known as Arlene B. Dujack, et al. vs. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., the plaintiffs had been seeking compensation, as they alleged that the company's products were defectively designed and caused Dujack's death in 1999."The court found that even if cigarettes are found to be addictive and cause disease, they are not defective and unreasonably dangerous under Connecticut law," Mitch Neuhauser, a Brown & Williamson attorney, said in a statement.