Judge hands €9bn fine to cigarette giant

A US judge has ordered cigarette maker Philip Morris USA to pay €9.65bn in damages for misleading smokers into believing its light cigarettes are less harmful than regular labels.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs hailed the ruling, but Philip Morris said it would appeal Judge Nicholas Byron’s decision in Edwardsville, Illinois

The case was the first class-action lawsuit in the US to come to trial alleging a tobacco company committed consumer fraud in its advertising of light cigarettes.

Judge Byron’s decision calls for Philip Morris to pay €6.8bn in compensatory damages, as well as €2.8bn in punitive damages to the state of Illinois.

Unlike many other high-profile cigarette-related lawsuits, the plaintiffs didn’t claim that smoking made them sick. They accused Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro Lights, of wrongly leading customers to believe the “light” brands are less harmful than regular cigarettes.

They based their claims on evidence they said showed the tobacco maker concealed crucial research data revealing the detrimental effects of light cigarettes for more than 30 years.

The plaintiffs had sought more than €20bn based on what they paid for the light cigarettes over the years.