Widdick v. Brown & Williamson
"The Tobacco Conspiracy Trial"
Deceased Smoker's Former Colleagues Claim He Knew Smoking's Hazards
(June 4) According to several former colleagues of deceased smoker Roland Maddox, he knew the dangers of smoking and even claimed at one point to have quit "cold turkey." Maddox, one former colleague said, was also aware of the Surgeon General's report on smoking and said that "eventually has to die of something."
This deposition testimony appeared to give Brown & Williamson some momentum and contradicted the previous testimony of Maddox's widow, Barbara Maddox, and his daughter, Angela Widdick. George Major, the fifth defense witness, testified by deposition and said that he and Maddox had a conversation about the Surgeon General's report regarding the dangers of smoking. The two of them concluded that it was just one person's opinion. They once discussed a 90-year-old man who never smoked and was hit and killed by a bus. Apparently Maddox's attitude was that "we're all going to die of something." In his deposition, Major also said several employees used to use the term "cancer stick" around Maddox. While he could not say for certain that Maddox used the term, he was certain Maddox heard it.
The next witness by deposition was Judith McGoldrick, who worked with Maddox for 10 years at Winn Dixie. McGoldrick said she never saw Maddox smoke anything but Marlboro Lights (which are manufactured by Phillip Morris.) She even sold him several packs. McGoldrick also testified that Maddox quit smoking a few years before he retired and never saw him smoking at work after 1992 or 1993. She claimed that she used to caution him not to smoke, but he used to laugh at her when she did.
Jurors also heard the deposition of Karen Poole, another former co-worker at Winn Dixie who knew Maddox for about six or seven years. She, too, said Maddox only smoked Marlboro Lights. Although she never socialized with him, Poole said Maddox drove her to work three times. Poole used to warn Maddox about the dangers of smoking. She also testified that Maddox quit smoking a few months before he retired and that he told her he did it "cold turkey." Finally, contrary to Maddox's widow, Poole said Maddox read the newspaper regularly and followed current events.
The deposition testimony followed the live testimony of Dr. Richard Greer, a psychiatrist affiliated with Shands Hospital, the University of Florida-Gainesville's teaching hospital. Dr. Greer was called to deliver his expert opinion as to whether nicotine is a physical addiction, and whether Roland Maddox was really addicted to nicotine. He testified using criteria from the DSM-IV, and listed three elements of "dependency" (the term it uses for addiction.)
A person is dependent on a substance, Dr. Greer said, if it causes intoxication, tolerance, and withdrawal. Under this definition, Dr. Greer testified, nicotine cannot be seen as being physically addictive. It does not intoxicate or impair the function of the smoker; nor does the smoker require ever higher levels of nicotine to get the same "high." And, the witness said, it is not clear there are physical symptoms of withdrawal. He pointed to a study in which smokers were given either placebos or nicotine gum; the smokers who were given placebos, believing the pills to be nicotine gum, reported feeling very little symptoms of withdrawal.
Dr. Greer's definition of "dependency" coincides with the 1964 Surgeon General's report. But the 1988 Surgeon General's report removed intoxication as a criterion of addiction; outside of court, a defense lawyer said this was intended to stigmatize cigarette smoking by bumping it into the same category as alcohol, heroin and cocaine.
Greer stressed that the key factor in quitting smoking is motivation. He believes that nicotine does not prevent a smoker from making a decision to quit and then carrying out that decision. Based on depositions of family members and co-workers, Dr. Greer said Roland Maddox did not display any evidence of addiction. He was not impaired in his function at home or at work, and did not exhibit any clinical distress. Dr. Greer conceded that it's difficult to stop smoking, because it's enjoyable, but there's nothing to prevent a person from quitting, when he wants to quit.
During cross-examination, plaintiff attorney Norwood Wilner challenged the witness's preparedness. He suggested Dr. Greer was not familiar enough with the FDA report on addiction, or with a variety of studies on smoking addiction. He attacked Dr. Greer's opinion on the addictiveness of nicotine. Wilner said that two out of three of all smokers light up within a short time of waking up--and asked the witness if it is because the smoker needs to restore the nicotine level in his blood. On redirect, Dr. Greer compared nicotine to caffeine, describing both as strong habits. He said many coffee drinkers also drink coffee within that same short time of waking up.
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