Fabiano v. Philip Morris USA Inc. Fuller v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

Summary

The court held that a wrongful-death claim is derivative of the decedent's viable personal-injury claim, including when the wrongful-death theory is based on breach of warranty. Because each decedent's underlying claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations before death, no wrongful-death cause of action vested in either estate, and the wrongful-death limitations period never began to run. The court affirmed dismissal of the wrongful-death claims in both cases.