R.J. Reynolds Loses Challenge to Ex-Smoker’s $7.25 Million Award

A man who allegedly developed heart disease from smoking Winston filtered cigarettes presented enough evidence to support his $7.25 million jury award against maker R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., a Florida appeals court ruled.

Paul E. Rouse didn’t have to show he relied on specific statements by Reynolds or other tobacco companies to prove his conspiracy claim, the Florida Third District Court of Appeal said Wednesday.

Rouse, as a member of a decertified class of Florida smokers, needed only to show he relied on “a misapprehension concerning a material fact that RJR and other co-conspirators had concealed,” and that his ...