Philip Morris punitive damages ruling [OR SC] News
Philip Morris punitive damages ruling [OR SC]

Mayola William et al. v. Philip Morris Incorporated et al., Oregon Supreme Court, February 2, 2006 [upholding an award of $79.5 million in punitive damages that a jury in 1999 directed Philip Morris USA to pay to relatives of an Oregon man who died of lung cancer from smoking]. Excerpt:

In summary, Philip Morris, with others, engaged in a massive, continuous, near-half-century scheme to defraud the plaintiff and many others, even when Philip Morris always had reason to suspect — and for two or more decades absolutely knew — that the scheme was damaging the health of a very large group of Oregonians — the smoking public — and was killing a number of that group.

Read the full text of the opinion. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.