Lorillard Tobacco Company

Lorillard Tobacco Company was a major American cigarette manufacturer best known in the asbestos context for producing Kent cigarettes with the "Micronite" filter from 1952 to 1956. The Micronite filter contained crocidolite asbestos, the most dangerous form of asbestos, which smokers inhaled directly with every puff. Lorillard and its filter supplier have faced thousands of lawsuits from Kent smokers who later developed mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases.

Origin

Founded in 1760 by Pierre Lorillard in New York City, Lorillard is one of the oldest tobacco companies in the United States. The Kent brand was launched in 1952 and named after Lorillard president Herbert Kent. The Micronite filter was marketed as a health-conscious innovation just as public concern about smoking and lung disease was rising.

Significance in Asbestos Context

Kent's original Micronite filter is one of the clearest examples of consumer asbestos exposure in U.S. history. People who never worked an industrial job inhaled crocidolite fibers directly into their lungs while smoking. Internal Lorillard documents later showed the company knew the filter shed asbestos fibers during smoking, yet continued production for years. If you or a loved one smoked original Kent cigarettes between March 1952 and mid-1956 and later developed mesothelioma, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related disease, this is a recognized exposure pathway with established legal precedent. Lorillard was acquired by Reynolds American in 2015, but successor liability means claims can still be pursued.

Example Sentence

When the patient's attorney learned he had smoked Kent cigarettes in college during the early 1950s, she began gathering evidence of his Micronite filter exposure to add Lorillard as a defendant.

Related Terms

Crocidolite, Micronite Filter, Hollingsworth & Vose, Consumer Exposure, Successor Liability, Mesothelioma

Notes

• If the patient smoked Kent cigarettes between March 1952 and mid-1956, document this thoroughly, brand, approximate dates, packs per day, and any surviving witnesses such as family members or friends who remember them smoking Kents.
• Look for old photographs, letters, military commissary records, or other materials that may corroborate Kent smoking during the Micronite era; visual evidence of the distinctive Kent packaging from that period can support a claim.
• Tell your treating oncologist about Kent smoking history during that window. It should be recorded in your medical history as a potential asbestos exposure, not just as general tobacco use.
• Hollingsworth & Vose, the company that supplied the asbestos filter material to Lorillard, is also a named defendant in many Kent cases; your legal team will likely pursue both.
• Claims involving Lorillard now run through R.J. Reynolds/Reynolds American as successor; this does not bar recovery but affects how the case is structured.