23–7. Case Problem with Sample Answer
Mary Jane Boerner began smoking in 1945 at the age of fifteen. For a short time, she smoked Lucky Strike–brand cigarettes before switching to the Pall Mall brand, which she smoked until she quit altogether in 1981. Pall Malls had higher levels of carcinogenic tar than other cigarettes and lacked effective filters, which would have reduced the amount of tar inhaled into the lungs. In 1996, Mary Jane developed lung cancer. She and her husband, Henry Boerner, filed a suit in a federal district court against Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co., the maker of Pall Malls. The Boerners claimed, among other things, that Pall Malls contained a design defect. Mary Jane died in 1999. According to Dr. Peter Marvin, her treating physician, she died from the effects of cigarette smoke. Henry continued the suit, offering evidence that Pall Malls featured a filter that actually increased the amount of tar taken into the body. When is a product defective in design? Does this product meet the requirements? Why or why not? [Boerner v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co., 394 F.3d 594 (8th Cir. 2005)]
23–7. Answer
A jury found that the “Pall Mall cigarettes were in a defective condition due to faulty design; the faulty design resulted in excessively high levels of carcinogens being introduced into Mrs. Boerner’s lungs; the defective condition yielded the Paul Mall cigarettes unreasonably dangerous; and the defective condition proximately caused Mrs. Boerner’s illness and death.” Henry was awarded $4,025,000 in compensatory damages and $15 million in punitive damages. Brown & Williamson appealed these findings and this award to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which affirmed the lower court’s decision on the design defect claim. The appellate court pointed out that to succeed on this claim, a “plaintiff must establish that the product was in a defective condition, that the defective condition rendered the product unreasonably dangerous, and that the defect proximately caused the complained-of injury. A product is unreasonably dangerous when it is dangerous to an extent beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary and reasonable buyer, consumer, or user.” The court noted that generally “cigarettes contain carcinogens; carcinogens are the causal link between smoking and cancer.” In this case, the court emphasized the levels of tar in Pall Malls, the evidence related to filters, and the doctor’s conclusion with regard to Mary Jane’s illness and death.