UPDATE: Florida Court of Appeals Overturns Early Engle Verdict Against Philip Morris USA

A Florida appellate court today threw out an Engle verdict against Philip Morris USA (PM USA) after finding that the trial court erroneously refused to hold that the statute of limitations barred a plaintiff's claim. This is the first Engle verdict to be overturned by an appellate court.

Today's decision came in an appeal of a 2009 verdict in the Barbanell case from Broward County where the court awarded damages in the amount of $5,339,198 but held the plaintiff 63.5% responsible so the total damages against PM USA was approximately $2 million.