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A Florida man who developed cancer from smoking was awarded $260,000 on Friday from tobacco company R.J. Reynolds. The 71-year-old man suing the tobacco company sought $10 billion dollars in damage payments, the largest amount to be sought by an individual in a trial against a cigarette maker.

After the man’s lawyer made the argument that smoking the company’s cigarettes gave him cancer, the jury ordered the company to pay him $10,000 in compensatory damages, and $250,000 in punitive damages - for the total of $260,000.

Many smokers’ cases stem from the 1994 case of Engle versus R.J. Reynolds, a landmark lawsuit against the tobacco company. In 2006, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that only individual cases against tobacco companies could go through after 700,000 Florida smokers were filing together. They were said to have been receiving $145 billion from the company.

Many court cases arise every year in the state of Florida against big tobacco companies. So what are the people filing lawsuits looking for? Compensation to offset medical costs, Florida life insurance costs or pain and suffering? Everyone that sues have their own reasons for filing such a suit but one thing that is known is the negative effects that smoking and tobacco use can have on your body.

According to the Insurance Journal story, a representative from R.J. Reynolds was not available for comment, and the company did not appeal the ruling.

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