La. jury awards $591 mln in smoking case
Key points
- The tobacco industry must pay $591 million to fund a 10-year program to help Louisiana smokers quit, a jury in a class-action suit decided on Friday.
- The defendants include Philip Morris USA, a unit of Altria Group Inc.; R.J.
- The defendants promised to appeal the verdict, which is less than the $1 billion the plaintiffs had requested.
- The verdict is the second part of a case filed in the mid-1990s.
The tobacco industry must pay $591 million to fund a 10-year program to help Louisiana smokers quit, a jury in a class-action suit decided on Friday.
The defendants include Philip Morris USA, a unit of Altria Group Inc.; R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., part of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc.; Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., a unit of British American Tobacco Plc; and Lorillard, which is part of Loews Corp. and trades as Carolina Group.
The defendants promised to appeal the verdict, which is less than the $1 billion the plaintiffs had requested.
The verdict is the second part of a case filed in the mid-1990s. A jury last year found the tobacco companies must fund the programs, and the second phase of the case was to decide how much that would cost.
Written and revised by
Andrey Nailor, M.D.
Our doctors write and review articles for accuracy and keep them up to date.
health.am provides general information, not medical advice. Always consult a qualified health professional about your own health.
Explore health topics
More in this topic
Addiction →NewsSmoking linked with increased risk of most common type of breast cancer
Young women who smoke and have been smoking a pack a day for a decade or more have a significantly increased risk of developing the most common type of breast cancer. That is the finding of an analysis published early…
11 February 2014
NewsStrict parenting may reduce teen smoking
Parents who set limits are less likely to have kids who smoke, regardless of their ethnic and racial backgrounds, according to a new U.S. study. Researchers surveyed middle schoolers from diverse backgrounds and found…
28 December 2013
NewsWant to stop smoking? See a specialist!
Smokers in England who want to stop smoking are three times more likely to succeed if they see a trained advisor than if they try by themselves, according to a new study published online today in the medical journal…
21 December 2013
