Court: Tobacco Billions Beyond U.S. Reach
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A U.S. appeals court on Friday  rejected the government's bid to force cigarette makers to pay  $280 billion in past profits, striking the toughest sanction  from the racketeering case and lifting tobacco stocks.
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The World Health Organization warned in a new report Thursday that the "tobacco epidemic" is growing and could claim 1 billion lives by the end of the century unless governments dramatically step up efforts to curb smoking.
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Cigarette makers lied about the dangers of smoking for 50 years, the US government said on Tuesday as its $280 billion case against the industry went to trial.
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A multi-billion dollar lawsuit brought by the government against major tobacco firms is to open in Nigeria.
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A California appeals court has  ruled that a smoker's record-breaking $3 billion punitive  damages award against Philip Morris was still "excessive" even  after being reduced by a trial judge to $100 million and must  be halved again.
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After five years of preparation, the federal government expects to take the nation&#39;s tobacco industry to court today, alleging massive fraud and seeking a $280 billion penalty
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In a smoking suit, a jury wrongly punished Big Tobacco for injuries to nonlitigants, the justices ruled.
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A federal judge ruled Thursday that the nation's top cigarette makers violated racketeering laws, deceiving the public for years about the health hazards of smoking, but said she couldn't order them to pay the billions of dollars the government had sought.
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TALLAHASSEE - Lawyers for as many as 700,000 ill and dying smokers urged the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday to restore a record-shattering $145 billion verdict against the tobacco industry, or at least a portion of it.
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A lawsuit accusing tobacco companies of  defrauding smokers into thinking "light" cigarettes were safer  than regular brands can proceed as a class action, a federal  judge in New York ruled on Monday.
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The Supreme Court yesterday overturned a nearly $80 million verdict intended to punish the Philip Morris tobacco company for endangering the lives of smokers, and the justices set limits on how jurors can decide to make big business pay for wrongdoing.
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Major cigarette makers went on trial  on Tuesday in the U.S. government's $280 billion case, which  charges the tobacco industry with deliberately deceiving the  public about the risks of smoking since the 1950s.
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A panel of federal appellate judges raised significant doubts yesterday about whether courts can order tobacco companies to forfeit $280 billion in past profits if the government proves they engaged in civil fraud and conspiracy.
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WASHINGTON - After five years of legal wrangling, the nation's largest cigarette-makers are meeting federal lawyers in court for the trial phase of the government's record $280 billion civil racketeering suit against the tobacco industry.    The government alleges the industry conspired to deceive the public about the dangers of smoking and the addictive nature of nicotine, and illegally targeted children through marketing campaigns...
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A $200 billion U.S. lawsuit filed by  "light" cigarette smokers gained class action status on Monday,  hammering shares of U.S. tobacco companies.
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A tobacco treaty of the World Health Organization (WHO) will become part of international law in 90 days, following ratification by 40 countries in the past 17 months.
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A new global treaty on tobacco is sure to be trouble for tobacco companies.