Smoker Does Not Qualify for Class Action Against Reynolds, Attorney Argues

Bethany Schneider tells jurors that Frances Vitale did not suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease within time limits that would allow her family to sue R.J. Reynolds under a class action against the nation’s tobacco companies. Vitale died in 2002 after years of smoking, and her family claims her respiratory disease was caused by Reynolds’ concealment of smoking’s dangers.