$28B Award Slashed in Smoking Suit

A Los Angeles judge slashed the largest punitive damages award ever granted in an individual smoking case Wednesday, shrinking the payout from a staggering $28 billion to $28 million. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Warren Ettinger ruled that the award levied against Philip Morris Inc. was excessive because it was 33,000 times greater than the $850,000 in compensatory damages awarded in the case.

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