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Philip Morris
& Related Newswire
6/21/2006 10:44:00 AM | Smokeless Tobacco: No Chewing, No Spitting, and Fewer Cancer ... 
=(0) Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds are both testing a smokeless tobacco product that would help those addicted to nicotine get around the public bans on smoking that more and more communities are enacting. These are not the chewing and spitting kinds of tobacco, but a neat pouch held against the gums. Nicotine is absorbed and while the effect is sa...
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6/19/2006 8:19:00 PM | Philip Morris to get $2.15 billion back from Madison County =(0) Things are looking up for Philip Morris in Madison County, Illinois. It will get back over $2 billion of its appeal bond posted there after it lost a $10 billion judgement in a class action lawsuit. The suit claimed Philip Morris fraudulently claimed its "light" cigarettes were less harmful than regular cigarettes. The verdict was later overturned ...
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6/14/2006 6:06:00 PM | Tobacco companies ask judge to dismiss Medicare lawsuit =(0) Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. are among six tobacco companies named as defendants in a lawsuit by United Seniors Association Inc. which seeks to have the companies reimburse Medicare for its disbursements for smoking-related illnesses since 1999. United Seniors is a lobbying group which is attempting to pursue the lawsuit on ...
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6/14/2006 2:45:00 PM | Smokers can't file class-action against Philip Morris =(0) The Ohio Supreme Court has denied class action status to a lawsuit brought by two Ohio smokers against Philip Morris. A lower court had approved the status but that ruling was overturned. The suit, which can still proceed on its own, involved whether Philip Morris knew that "light" cigarettes are as dangerous as regular ones when it marke...
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5/30/2006 2:13:00 PM | Supreme Court to hear Philip Morris appeal =(0) The US Supreme Court will hear an appeal by Philip Morris, which claims a punitive damages judgement against the company was excessive. A jury awarded the estate of an Oregon man $800,000 compensatory damages and $79.5 million in punitive damages, and the amount was upheld in the Oregon Supreme Court. Advocacy groups say that large puniti...
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5/24/2006 9:34:00 AM | Kraft sued over benzene in soft drink =(0) Class action suits are reportedly filed in three states against Kraft Foods, after findings that some batches of its Crystal Light Sunrise Classic Orange drink contained over 14 times the legal limit of benzene, a known cause of cancer. Other companies involved in similar lawsuits are PepsiCo, In Zone Brands, Polar Beverages, Talking Rain Beve...
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5/23/2006 6:15:00 AM | Arkansas 'light' cigarette case may be headed for high court =(0) The US Supreme Court may review whether the federal or state court system should try a lawsuit against Philip Morris. The plaintiffs, two Arkansas smokers, want the case heard in Arkansas. A lower court has ruled that the case may shift to federal court which is thought to favour large corporations. The lawsuit concerns Cambridge Lights a...
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5/18/2006 4:44:00 PM | Massachusetts court strikes a blow to tobacco defense =(0) A court in Massachusetts struck a blow to one of the tobacco companies' defenses against wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of smokers: the "personal choice" defense which states that the consumer knew the risks of using the product and behaved unreasonably by doing so. That defense is designed for products that are defective, or used for other...
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5/18/2006 3:04:00 AM | Court Overturns Tobacco Verdict =(0) The verdict was upheld, only the amount is in question, with regard to a lawsuit against Philip Morris USA. The company was found guilty of negligence and fraud, and held liable in the death of an Oregon smoker because of its claims that low tar cigarettes were safer than regular cigarettes. The original amount awarded was $150 million; t...
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4/23/2006 12:13:00 AM | Tennessee receives annual payment in tobacco settlement =(0) Philip Morris has completed its tobacco settlement payments to individual States for this year. Some other companies including RJ Reynolds and Lorillard Tobacco, are trying to have the payments reduced because of lower sales, but some states are suing for their full payments. The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement was signed in 1998.......
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3/28/2006 10:52:00 AM | Philip Morris, Reynolds Win Arbiter's Tobacco Ruling =(0) Philip Morris USA was among the tobacco companies that could benefit from an arbitrator's ruling which says that restrictions on advertising have contributed to the significant decline in their market share of sales. This paves the way for the companies to cut their payment to the states under the 1998 tobacco settlement. However the states still n...
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3/27/2006 4:39:00 AM | Trouble now, trouble later, for Big Tobacco =(0) This opinion piece takes note of how cigarette sales worldwide have increased, despite the U.S. trend towards less tobacco use. For instance, Philip Morris USA's parent company, Altria, has seen its sales increase by 5% over the previous year. The increase comes from developing countries and countries with quickly rising incomes such as China, whos...
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3/21/2006 7:40:00 AM | High court lets stand $50 million award to late smoker's family =(0) The US Supreme Court has let stand a $50 million judgement against Philip Morris USA. The plainiffs are the family of a cancer victim who died at 57 after being unable to stop smoking. He ultimately switched to "light" cigarettes in the belief they were safer. The Supreme Court had been asked to reconsider the amount of the judegement which had alr...
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3/21/2006 3:03:00 AM | Widow's Legal Battle With Philip Morris Ends =(0) The widow of a longtime smoker will collect $82 million from Philip Morris USA after the US Supreme Court refused to take the case. The award consists of about $5 million in compensatory damages, $50 million in punitive damages, with the rest, interest accrued since the original judgement. The Supreme Court has also been asked to review another jud...
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3/15/2006 11:39:00 AM | Georgia Supreme Court Ruling Seen Aiding Tobacco Cos >RAI =(0) A Georgia Supreme Court Ruling is seen as an important precedent for a pending Florida case. The Georgia court ruled that a settlement in 1998 precluded state residents from pursuing additonal lawsuits for punitive damages for tobacco use. However the suit is still active in Federal court....
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