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Big Tobacco Battles to End 'Light' Cigarette Class Action Suits [03/18-1]
Excerpts from: Philip Morris battles hard to stamp out 'lights' suits
Illinois appeal gains importance as cigarette maker shows results against class actions elsewhere
By
Ameet Sachdev
Chicago Tribune [03/18/04]
Anti-smoking advocates predicted it would be the ruling that would open a new front in the war against tobacco.
But a year after an Illinois judge issued a $10.1 billion verdict against tobacco giant Philip Morris USA, concluding that the company misled smokers by suggesting that "light" cigarettes delivered less tar and nicotine than full-tar cigarettes, the case remains under appeal while the momentum of similar cases is slowing.
The company's recent victories place even greater significance on the Illinois class-action case, originating in Madison County, which Philip Morris has appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court.
The case, accepted by the high court in September, remains the only light cigarette class action to go to trial, providing a road map to other trial lawyers on how to win such suits.
A reversal would be a setback not only for Illinois plaintiffs but for others in other states.
"If the Supreme Court reverses the decision, it can seriously affect what other courts do," said Stephen A. Sheller, a Philadelphia lawyer who is participating in several light lawsuits around the country. "It could create a steam-roll effect, and that's what the tobacco industry wants."
In the Madison County lawsuit, known as the Price case after lead defendant Sharon Price, plaintiffs' lawyers asserted that the tobacco industry was engaged in a massive scam. Firms marketed cigarettes like Marlboro Lights by falsely claiming that they delivered less tar and nicotine than regular cigarettes, when research shows they do not, the lawyers said.
Light cigarettes are designed with microscopic holes in the filter that dilute cigarette smoke.
When measured by a government testing device, the amount of tar and nicotine in a light cigarette is lower than a regular one. But scientific research indicates that smokers of lights usually compensate by smoking more and inhaling deeper to get their full nicotine dose, thus negating any benefits.
The deception, plaintiffs' lawyers contend, violated state consumer protection laws, which allow recovery of economic damages. The suit sought repayment for every pack of cigarettes every smoker bought since Philip Morris began selling light cigarettes in 1971.
Individually, the damages may amount to several thousand dollars--a settlement consumers would not see if they filed individually. The legal costs of taking on a tobacco company would be prohibitive.
The judge ordered Philip Morris to pay $7.1 billion in compensatory damages--nearly $7,000 apiece--to 1.1 million Illinois consumers who purchased Marlboro Lights and Cambridge Lights in recent decades.
He also ordered the company to pay $3 billion in punitive damages to Illinois and earmarked $1.75 billion for attorneys' fees.
In its appeal, Philip Morris argues that tar and nicotine intake depends on how people smoke. And habits vary from person to person, from how they hold cigarettes to how frequently they inhale.
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