US court sets aside $79.5m smoker award

THE US Supreme Court granted an appeal by cigarette maker Philip Morris USA Inc. yesterday, set aside a ruling that awarded $79.5 million in punitive damages to the family of a dead smoker, and sent the case back for further consideration.

The justices sent the case back to the Oregon courts for additional consideration in view of their ruling in April that held that punitive damages must be reasonable and proportionate to the harm suffered.

The case stemmed from an Oregon Court of Appeals ruling last year that reinstated a jury’s award of $79.5 million in punitive damages to the family of Jesse Williams who died of lung cancer in 1997 after smoking Marlboro cigarettes for 42 years.