High Court Turns Away Philip Morris

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by Philip Morris, setting the stage for the tobacco giant to pay more than $16 million to a Glendale woman who contracted lung cancer. It would be the largest payment and the first punitive damages ever paid to an individual smoker.

The court's refusal to review the case was the last gasp for Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris, which had been fighting for six years to overturn the damages award to Patricia Henley.

Henley was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1998 after more than 30 years as a Marlboro smoker. In February 1999, a jury in San Francisco Superior Court decreed that the company had lied about the risks and addictiveness of smoking and was responsible for Henley's cancer, and awarded her $51.5 million.

Although the award eventually was reduced to $10.5 million, Philip Morris will have to write a check for $16.7 million because of interest accrued during the years of appeals. Henley, 58, said she planned to give most of the money to a foundation to teach children about the ills of smoking and treat kids with respiratory ailments and cancer.

"This is a good day for the children," said Henley, who had long complained that her case would never end. "This is punishment money from the tobacco industry, but it needs to be turned into money that's going to help people."

William S. Ohlemeyer, vice president and associate general counsel for Philip Morris, said he was disappointed with the outcome but not surprised given the small number of appeals the Supreme Court accepts.

"Today's decision isn't going to make it any harder for us to defend cases in California," he said.

Henley's original jury award was three times what her lawyer, Madelyn Chaber, had asked for. But the victory was just the beginning of an endurance contest. The case pingponged through the legal system, three times going back and forth between the state Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court to resolve various issues.

Along the way, the original award was reduced twice -- first to $26.5 million, then to $10.5 million. But the state Supreme Court in September refused Philip Morris' request to overturn the liability finding, prompting the company to seek a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Anti-smoking groups hailed Monday's decision, noting how few individual plaintiffs have actually collected money from cigarette makers.