On October 17, 12 St. Louis jurors heard the closing arguments for a trial determining whether tobacco giant Philip Morris owes Missouri smokers at least $700 million. Located in St. Louis, Philip Morris USA is the largest tobacco company in the United States. Although its website now clearly declares, “There is no safe cigarette,” the company is being accused of deceiving consumers into believing that light cigarettes were safer than regular cigarettes.
The light cigarettes in question were in fact made with the same tobacco as regular cigarettes; however, Philip Morris attorneys insist that despite this, the health community still recommended lower-tar cigarettes and found that light cigarettes resulted in lower rates of lung cancer. The “lower tar and nicotine” label has not been used on packages since 2003, and Philip Morris has not used the term “lights” since 2010. This suit was filed in 2000.
In 2006, the verdict of court case United States of America vs. Philip Morris USA, Inc. barred the tobacco company from marketing products as “Lights,” “Ultra-Lights,” “Medium,” or “Mild.” Evidently, since the labels have already been altered, the focus of this case is on rewarding the faithful tobacco consumers for the perceived damages.
Deborah Larsen, of Jefferson County, heads this class action lawsuit. Stephen Swedlow, the plaintiff’s attorney, cited the misleading label on light cigarettes that promised lower tar and nicotine as evidence of the rampant damages. Between 1995 and 2002, it is estimated that 700 million packs of Marlboro Lights were sold in Missouri. Based on the damage estimates, if the class wins this case, a pack-a-day smoker will be awarded about $365 for every year that he or she smoked Marlboro Lights.
