James "Jim" McHugh started smoking when he was a teenager and continued to do so for nearly five decades.
He tried quitting cold turkey. He tried chewing gum. He even tried hypnosis. By the time he found a prescription medicine that could help him, he was a very sick man.
In 2009, McHugh, who was an officer in two Miami-Dade police departments and had served in the US Marines, died at age 66 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Now, more than 10 years after his death, his widow, Diane Snyder, was awarded a $US12.5 million ($A18.9 million) verdict on Wednesday after an eight-day trial in Broward County court.
The jury, which deliberated for five hours, found that the cigarette company, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co, is partly responsible for his addiction to cigarettes and ultimate death.
The process leading up to Wednesday's verdict, which took more than a decade, "was quite an experience," Snyder said in a statement. McHugh and Snyder filed the suit in 2008, while McHugh was still alive.
McHugh retired in 2004 and soon after, his breathing became difficult and his health worsened. He finally quit in 2006 with the help of a prescription medicine, but until then, McHugh had smoked one to two packs a day. McHugh and Snyder filed the suit in 2008. He died in 2009.
At the heart of the lawsuit was the fact that in the 1980s, McHugh switched to True cigarettes because of ads saying they were better for smokers than other cigarettes.
The ads played a huge role in convincing the jury that McHugh was led into believing that by smoking True cigarettes he was getting less tar and nicotine.
One of the ads: True. Easy on your mind. Easy on your taste.
The tobacco company still has a chance to appeal the decision.
Australian Associated Press
