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AAP News Vol. 30 No. 9 September 2009, p. 45 © 2009 American Academy of Pediatrics
Dr. Engle, 89, led lawsuit against tobacco industryTrisha KoriothStaff Writer Howard A. Engle, M.D., M.S., FAAP, of Miami Beach, Fla., died July 22 at age 89. Addicted to smoking since medical school, Dr. Engle was the lead complainant in the first class-action lawsuit filed against Big Tobacco. He died of smoking-related complications. Dr. Engle received his M.D. degree from University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1943 and completed his residency at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago in 1944-’45. He completed pediatric neurology fellowship training at Cook County Hospital in Chicago and Columbia University School of Medicine in New York. He also served in World War II. He practiced for nearly 50 years in Miami Beach and served as chief of pediatrics at Mount Sinai Medical Center from 1961-’70. Dr. Engle agreed to be lead plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in 1994 by Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt, whose children were patients of Dr. Engle’s. The case sought $145 billion in damages against the tobacco industry for knowingly addicting smokers and failing to adequately warn them of dangers of continuing to smoke. The suit was upheld initially, but eventually was overturned. The class action was decertified, and individuals were allowed to bring suit. In 1991, prior to filing the class-action suit, the Rosenblatts also brought a class-action suit against tobacco companies on behalf of flight attendants harmed by second-hand smoke. The case led to tobacco companies spending $300 million to study tobacco-related diseases through the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute, one of the funders of the AAP Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence.
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