June 22, 2011 - Florida’s Supreme Court declined to hear R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.’s appeal of a $28.3 million verdict in a 2006 case that the cigarette maker argued may affect thousands of individual claims against tobacco companies in the state. The ruling was named after Howard Engle, a Florida pediatrician who filed a statewide class action suit against Reynolds on behalf of Florida smokers who were addicted to nicotine and developed cancer or other smoking-related illnesses as a result. The court said that some jury findings in the case could be applied by former class members who file individual claims, now called Engle tobacco claims. Altria Group Inc., the biggest U.S. cigarette maker, faces claims from about 8,900 Engle plaintiffs, and Reynolds faces about 8,600 claims. Smokers and their families have won verdicts in about two-thirds of the 44 or more Engle claims tried to verdict, including one for $80 million against Reynolds in November.

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