A US jury has awarded a record $28 billion in punitive damages to a former smoker who sued Philip Morris for fraud and negligence.
The Superior Court jury in Los Angeles awarded the amount to 64-year-old Ms Betty Bullock, who started smoking when she was 17 and was diagnosed last year with lung cancer that has since spread to her liver.
Last month, the jury ordered the tobacco company to pay her over $600,000 in economic damages and $100,000 for pain and suffering.
During Ms Bullock's trial, Philip Morris did not try to defend its past. Instead, the company turned the spotlight on her and her decision to smoke. The strategy was a major shift from previous defence efforts.
The company's lawyer Peter Bleakley said that if she had stopped smoking, even in the 1980s, she would not now have lung cancer.
Ms Bullock's lawyer, Michael Piuze, argued that Philip Morris concealed the dangers of cigarettes with a widespread disinformation campaign that began in the 1950s.
AP