Howard Engle | Won tobacco suit, 89

Howard Engle, 89, the Miami Beach pediatrician whose tobacco lawsuit resulted in the largest punitive-damage award in U.S. history, died Wednesday at his home in Miami.

Dr. Engle died at his home, and his attorney Stanley Rosenblatt said his client had been in declining health for years from smoking-related ailments.

Dr. Engle made U.S. legal history in 2000 when a Miami jury awarded $145 billion in punitive damages against tobacco companies in his class-action lawsuit.

The Florida Supreme Court later overturned that verdict as excessive, ruling that thousands of smokers covered by the Engle case must prove damages individually. Those cases are being tried across Florida.

Rosenblatt said Dr. Engle had a thriving pediatric practice for decades in Miami Beach. - AP