The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court this week upheld rulings against Philip Morris, finding that the evidence at trial supported a jury’s finding of liability on claims alleging civil conspiracy and maintained a 12% post-judgment interest rate that could add up quick on an award already totaling more than $37 million against the Big Tobacco company.
The plaintiff, Patricia Walsh Greene, sued Philip Morris USA after she developed lung cancer after smoking Malboro brand cigarettes for decades. Greene grew up surrounded by Malboro advertising and promotions and smoked her first Malboro cigarette in 1971. She received several small packs of cigarettes as free samples as a teenager, and by the time she was in high school, she smoked a pack of cigarettes a day.
