The power company shut off the electricity to the mine because the company was in arrears in paying its power bill.

It's clear that this jury is sending a message to the business insurance industry that the American public, including the business community, is sick and tired of insurance companies deceptively handling and denying legitimate claims.

It took three years for this to get to trial, the trial took two weeks and the jury turned in the verdict at about 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

In the world of insurance, $20 million in punitive damages is considered a very substantial jury award.

The insurance carrier kept putting up a number of procedural roadblocks, none of which involved the loss itself.

Merck calculated cardiovascular warnings would cost the company 50 percent of its profits through 2006.