NEW YORK -- A federal appeals court gave a rough reception Tuesday to arguments that tobacco companies owe up to $200 billion to tens of millions of smokers for suggesting over the last three decades that light cigarettes might be less harmful than regular cigarettes, according to the Associated Press.
The three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has been asked to decide whether to let stand a ruling last summer in which U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein in Brooklyn granted class action status to a lawsuit against cigarette manufacturers.[image-nocss]
The ruling was appealed by defendants including Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA, its biggest U.S. rival, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and other cigarette manufacturers. The companies prefer trying each case on its own, saying circumstances for each smoker vary widely.
The lawsuit alleges tobacco companies promoted light cigarettes as lower-risk alternatives to regular cigarettes even though their internal documents showed they knew the risks were about the same. The class may consist of as many as 60 million people, lawyers say.
An attorney for Reynolds American Inc.'s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco division, Theodore Grossman, argued on behalf of the tobacco companies that the 2004 lawsuit unjustly was seeking compensation for smokers who bought at least 65 kinds of light cigarettes and observed even more marketing campaigns. He said the tobacco companies almost never discussed health or safety in their advertising promoting light cigarettes.
Two of the three judges repeatedly expressed doubts about the class-action status of the lawsuit as they questioned smokers' attorney Michael D. Hausfeld. Judge John Walker said he saw a problem in that each smoker would have a different perception of how the tobacco companies marketed the cigarettes. He also said he doubted that the smokers considered health their primary concern since they were deciding to smoke anyway. These are all individual decisions, he said. He also said he believed the statute of limitations may have expired before the lawsuit was filed.
Judge Ralph Winter said he doubted that tobacco companies could convince smokers that light cigarettes were healthier cigarettes with less tar and nicotine because each box still contained a health warning. It was a mixed message, he said. He also questioned why large numbers of smokers of light cigarettes appear not to have resumed smoking regular cigarettes once it became known that health advantages had been greatly exaggerated. Hausfeld said people get used to the taste of their brand of cigarettes.
In 2005, the 2nd Circuit tossed out a decision in a 2002 case in which Weinstein certified the first ever nationwide class action against tobacco companies. The panel said he had stretched the boundaries of the law by allowing the plaintiffs to seek only punitive damages. The panel reserved decision in the 2004 case.
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