BOST0N (AP) — The highest court in Massachusetts has upheld a nearly $37 million judgment for a woman who said she developed cancer after switching to Marlboro Light cigarettes because she thought they were less dangerous than what she had previously smoked.
The Supreme Judicial Court’s unanimous ruling on Tuesday said that Patricia Walsh Greene might have smoked less or quit sooner had she not been swayed by Philip Morris’ claims that Marlboro Lights were safer.
Greene started smoking in 1971 at age 13 and developed lung cancer in 2013 more than decade after she quit. An email seeking comment was left with Altria, Philip Morris’ parent company.