Massachusetts‘ Supreme Judicial Court upheld a nearly $37million judgment for a woman who claimed she developed lung cancer after switching from Marlboro Red cigarettes to Marlboro Lights because she thought they were less dangerous.
The judicial body delivered a unanimous ruling Tuesday and said Patricia Walsh Greene, 65, might have smoked less or quit sooner if she had not been convinced by Philip Morris’ claim that Marlboro Lights were safer.
In its decision, the court wrote: ‘Philip Morris represented that such products, including Marlboro Lights, delivered lower tar and nicotine and were a healthier alternative to regular cigarettes.’
However, Philip Morris never told its loyal consumers that internal research conducted by the company in the late 1970s showed that the smoke from Marlboro Light cigarettes was actually worse.
The research found that the smoke was more ‘mutagenic’ from light cigarettes’ – meaning it can damage DNA, the first step toward developing cancer.
Her lawyers praised the decision and hoped it helped others, saying: ‘I only hope it gives pause to Philip Morris and encourages others like Patti to come forward to call them out for what they did.’
Patricia Walsh Greene was awarded a $37million judgment from a Massachusetts court after suing Philip Morris in 2015 for the lung cancer and subsequent health problems she developed after switching from Marlboro Reds to Lights, thinking they were less harmful
Greene smoked her first Marlboro in 1971, when she was just 13, and would be unable to quit until 1995
Greene, who was born in the late 1950’s, grew up surrounded by sexy and aggressive advertising for cigarettes, which was prominently featured in the media at that time.
She smoked her first Marlboro in 1971, when she was 13 years old, according to the court. By high school, she was smoking a pack a day.
According to her attorneys, Greene tried to quit on many occasions using several methods, including nicotine patches and hypnotism.
Between 1979 and 1980, Greene quit smoking for nine months. When that pause ended, she resumed smoking, but switched to Marlboro Lights – from Reds – after seeing advertising assuring that they contained less tar and nicotine.
Greene smoked a pack a day of Marlboro Lights until she quit for good in 1995.
In 2013, Greene was diagnosed with lung cancer, which by 2018 had spread to her brain. She required multiple surgeries and radiation, according to the court.
Eight years ago, in 2015, Greene sued Philip Morris with the help of the Public Health Advocacy Institute. In 2021, the company was found liable for civil conspiracy and Greene was awarded the initial multi-million dollar judgment.
Philip Morris, which is owned by Altria, appealed the ruling, arguing there was insufficient evidence to support the judgements against it, and saying that the interest rates that resulted in the final award amount were excessive.
This week’s ruling upholded the original decision and confirmsed the jury did have sufficient evidence of Philip Morris conspiring with other cigarette manufacturers in a manner that did ultimately cause Greene’s cancer and subsequent kidney failure.
The court found the conspiracy started in 1953 with cigarette executives creating a plan to ‘overwhelm’ voices of those who challenged cigarettes as unhealthy, the Supreme Court found.
Greene’s original complaint against Philip Morris USA that resulted, in 2021, with a judgment of $37million for the plaintiff. Philip Morris appealed the case and lost again.
Research conducted by Philip Morris in the 70s found that the smoke from Marlboro Light cigarettes was actually more likely to cause the DNA damage that can ultimately lead to cancer
One of Greene’s PHAI attorneys, Mark Gottlieb, told the Daily Mail that his client is of course happy with the ruling, and that ‘it was amazing that she lived to tell her story to the jury at all and unexpected that she survived to see the verdict upheld.’
‘It is truly a sad story and I know she would have gladly traded this monetary award for her health. I only hope it gives pause to Philip Morris and encourages others like Patti to come forward to call them out for what they did,’ he said.
About six months after the trial, Greene’s husband, who had delivered testimony, died after a short cancer battle.
Since his passing, Greene has been forced to rely on her daughter to bring her to the many medical appointments – something her husband used to do.
Gottlieb said that from his perspective, ‘holding a cigarette company responsible for giving free samples of a deadly and addictive product to kids in Boston, while spending tens of millions of dollars each year to lie to the public about what it knew, and selling a product called “Lights” as better for you while knowing it was likely to cause more cancer than its regular cigarettes, shouldn’t take 8 years, hundreds of attorney hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses.’
