Conaway v. R.J. Reynolds

Summary

In this "Engle progeny" tobacco litigation, plaintiff seeks to recover damages allegedly caused by smoking-related disease. Plaintiff, the estate representative of a woman who had smoked for roughly 50 years, claims her alleged chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, was caused by an addiction to nicotine fueled by defendant R.J. Reynolds' concealment of smoking's risks for decades in the 20th century. Plaintiff contends that the smoker's COPD was diagnosed in 1993, within the time window of May 5, 1990 and November 21, 1996 required for Engle class membership.

The defense challenges Engle class membership, including the claim of timeliness of disease manifestation, contending a pulmonary function test performed in 2017, one year before plaintiff's death unrelated to COPD, showed no evidence of pulmonary obstruction.

Outcome

For the defense.