Appeals Court Upholds Award For Punitive Damages against Philip Morris

Woman who died at age 65 awarded $13.8 million in punitive damages in case against Philip Morris. The decision was upheld in appeals court on Wednesday. Here's an excerpt on the case from The San Francisco Chronicle:

"The court described Philip Morris' extensive efforts from the 1950s onward to deny the dangers of smoking to its customers and the government - contradicting the company's own research - and to make cigarettes more addictive and advertise them aggressively to youths as well as adults.
"The damage award is justified by 'the extreme reprehensibility of Philip Morris' misconduct, including the vast scale and profitability of its course of misconduct,' Justice H. Walter Croskey said in the majority opinion."

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