Woman awarded $37 million in lawsuit against Philip Morris USA for smoking Marlboro Lights.

Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court upheld a nearly $37 million judgment for Patricia Walsh Greene, who claimed she developed lung cancer after switching from Marlboro Red cigarettes to Marlboro Lights because she thought they were less dangerous. The court found that Philip Morris' claim that Marlboro Lights were safer was false, and internal research conducted by the company in the late 1970s showed that the smoke from Marlboro Light cigarettes was actually worse. The court confirmed 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.