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Contingencies (Tables) | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Schedule of Contingencies |
Currently Pending Engle Cases with Accrued Liabilities (rounded to nearest $ million)
Plaintiff | Verdict Date | Defendant(s) | Court | Compensatory Damages (All Defendants) | Punitive Damages (PM USA) | Appeal Status | Accrual (1)
Berger (Cote) | September 2014 | PM USA | Federal Court - Middle District of Florida | $6 million | $21 million | The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the punitive and compensatory damages awards and remanded the case to the district court. PM USA’s challenge to the punitive damages award was denied by the district court. PM USA’s appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals is pending. | $6 million accrual in the fourth quarter of 2018
(1) Accrual amounts include interest and associated costs, if applicable. For cases with multiple defendants, if any, accrual amounts reflect the portion of compensatory damages PM USA believes it will have to pay if the case is ultimately decided in plaintiff’s favor after taking into account any portion potentially payable by the other defendant(s).
Other Currently Pending Engle Cases with Verdicts Against PM USA (rounded to nearest $ million)
Plaintiff | Verdict Date | Defendant(s) | Court | Compensatory Damages (1) | Punitive Damages (PM USA) | Appeal Status
McCall | March 2019 | PM USA | Broward | <$1 million (<$1 million PM USA) | <$1 million | New trial ordered on punitive damages.
Neff | March 2019 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Broward | $4 million | $2 million | Appeals by plaintiff and defendants to Fourth District Court of Appeal pending.
Frogel | March 2019 | PM USA | Palm Beach | <$1 million (<$1 million PM USA) | $0 | Appeals by plaintiff and defendant to Fourth District Court of Appeal pending.
Mahfuz | February 2019 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Broward | $12 million | $10 million | Appeals by plaintiff and defendants to Fourth District Court of Appeal pending.
Holliman | February 2019 | PM USA | Miami-Dade | $3 million | $0 | Defendant’s appeal to Third District Court of Appeal pending.
Chadwell | September 2018 | PM USA | Miami-Dade | $2 million | $0 | Appeal by defendant to Third District Court of Appeal pending.
Kaplan | July 2018 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Broward | $2 million | $2 million | Appeals by defendants to Fourth District Court of Appeal pending.
Landi | June 2018 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Broward | $8 million | $5 million | Appeals by plaintiff and defendants to Fourth District Court of Appeal pending.
Theis | May 2018 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Sarasota | $7 million | $10 million | Defendants’ appeal to Second District Court of Appeal pending.
Freeman | March 2018 | PM USA | Alachua | $4 million | $0 | Defendant’s appeal to First District Court of Appeal pending.
R. Douglas | November 2017 | PM USA | Duval | <$1 million | $0 | Awaiting entry of final judgment by the trial court.
Sommers | April 2017 | PM USA | Miami-Dade | $1 million | $0 | New trial ordered on punitive damages; appeals by plaintiff and defendant to Third District Court of Appeal pending.
Santoro | March 2017 | PM USA, R.J. Reynolds and Liggett Group | Broward | $2 million | $0 | Trial court set aside punitive damages award; appeals by plaintiff and defendants to Fourth District Court of Appeal pending.
Cooper (Blackwood) | September 2015 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Broward | $5 million (<$1 million PM USA) | $0 | Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed judgment and granted a new trial on punitive damages.
McCoy | July 2015 | PM USA, R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard | Broward | $2 million (<$1 million PM USA) | $3 million | Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed judgment and ordered a new trial; plaintiff requested review by the Florida Supreme Court.
D. Brown | January 2015 | PM USA | Federal Court - Middle District of Florida | $8 million | $9 million | Appeal by defendant to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit pending.
Kerrivan | October 2014 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Federal Court - Middle District of Florida | $16 million | $16 million | Appeal by defendants to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit pending.
Harris | July 2014 | PM USA, R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard | Federal Court - Middle District of Florida | $2 million (<$ 1 million PM USA) | $0 | Appeals by plaintiff and defendants to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit pending.
(1 )PM USA’s portion of the compensatory damages award is noted parenthetically where the court has ruled that comparative fault applies.
Engle Cases Concluded Within Past 12 Months (rounded to nearest $ million)
Plaintiff | Verdict Date | Defendant(s) | Court | Accrual Date | Payment Amount (if any) | Payment Date
Alvarez Del Real | September 2019 | PM USA | Miami-Dade | Fourth quarter of 2019 | <$1 million | October 2019
Zingaro | May 2019 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Broward | Third quarter of 2019 | <$1 million | October 2019
Bryant | December 2017 | PM USA | Escambia | Second quarter of 2019 | <$1 million | July 2019
Wallace | October 2017 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Brevard | Second quarter of 2019 | $26 million | May 2019
J. Brown | February 2017 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Pinellas | First quarter of 2019 | $4 million | April 2019
L. Martin | May 2017 | PM USA | Miami-Dade | First quarter of 2019 | $2 million | April 2019
Danielson | November 2015 | PM USA | Escambia | First quarter of 2019 | $3 million | March 2019
S. Martin | November 2016 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Broward | First quarter of 2019 | $5 million | March 2019
Searcy | April 2013 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Federal Court - Middle District of Florida | Third quarter of 2018 | $2 million | March 2019
Boatright | November 2014 | PM USA and Liggett Group | Polk | Second quarter of 2018 | $42 million | March 2019
M. Brown | May 2015 | PM USA | Duval | Second quarter of 2018 | $8 million | March 2019
Jordan | August 2015 | PM USA | Duval | Second quarter of 2018 | $11 million | March 2019
Pardue | December 2016 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Alachua | Second and Third quarters of 2018 | $11 million | March 2019
McKeever | February 2015 | PM USA | Broward | Fourth quarter of 2017 | $21 million | March 2019
Boulter | December 2018 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Lee | Fourth quarter of 2018 | <$1 million | January 2019
Simon | September 2018 | PM USA and R.J. Reynolds | Broward | Fourth quarter of 2018 | <$1 million | October 2018
The table below lists the number of certain tobacco-related cases pending in the U.S. against PM USA and, in some instances, Altria as of October 28, 2019, October 22, 2018 and October 23, 2017:
| October 28, 2019 |  | October 22, 2018 |  | October 23, 2017
Individual Smoking and Health Cases (1) | 95 |  | 101 |  | 87
Smoking and Health Class Actions and Aggregated Claims Litigation (2) | 2 |  | 2 |  | 4
Health Care Cost Recovery Actions (3) | — |  | 1 |  | 1
“Lights/Ultra Lights” Class Actions | 2 |  | 2 |  | 4
(1) Includes 21 cases filed in Massachusetts and 38 non-Engle cases filed in Florida. Does not include individual smoking and health cases brought by or on behalf of plaintiffs in Florida state and federal courts following the decertification of the Engle case (these Engle progeny cases are discussed below in Smoking and Health Litigation - Engle Class Action). Also does not include 1,471 cases brought by flight attendants seeking compensatory damages for personal injuries allegedly caused by exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (“ETS”). The flight attendants allege that they are members of an ETS smoking and health class action in Florida, which was settled in 1997 (Broin). The terms of the court-approved settlement in that case allowed class members to file individual lawsuits seeking compensatory damages, but prohibited them from seeking punitive damages. In March 2018, 923 of these cases were voluntarily dismissed without prejudice. (2) The 2017 pending cases include as one case the 30 civil actions that were to be tried in six consolidated trials in West Virginia (In re: Tobacco Litigation). PM USA was a defendant in nine of the 30 cases. The parties resolved these cases for an immaterial amount and in the second quarter of 2018, the court dismissed all 30 cases. (3) See Health Care Cost Recovery Litigation - Federal Government’s Lawsuit below. The changes in Altria’s accrued liability for tobacco and health litigation items, including related interest costs, for the periods specified below are as follows:
| For the Nine Months Ended September 30, |  | For the Three Months Ended September 30,
| 2019 |  | 2018 |  | 2019 |  | 2018
| (in millions)
Accrued liability for tobacco and health litigation items at beginning of period (1) | $ | 112 |  |  | $ | 106 |  |  | $ | 13 |  |  | $ | 107 |
Pre-tax charges for: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Tobacco and health litigation | 43 |  |  | 104 |  |  | 3 |  |  | 20 |
Related interest costs | 5 |  |  | 15 |  |  | — |  |  | 1 |
Payments (1) | (151 | ) |  | (118 | ) |  | (7 | ) |  | (21 | )
Accrued liability for tobacco and health litigation items at end of period (1) | $ | 9 |  |  | $ | 107 |  |  | $ | 9 |  |  | $ | 107 |
(1) Includes amounts related to the costs of implementing the corrective communications remedy related to the Federal Government’s Lawsuit discussed below.

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