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• Cigarette Makers Must Fund Cessation Plan, Court Says (Update3) 

Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and other U.S. cigarette makers must pay to fund quit-smoking programs in Louisiana, an appeals court ruled.

The state appeals court in New Orleans today upheld part of a $591 million jury verdict, saying the companies must pay for a 10-year program including nicotine gum and patches, medications and telephone quit lines. The ruling limits the plan to Louisiana residents who began smoking before 1988, when the state passed a new law governing product-liability suits.

``The majority finds that the pre-1988 smokers were entitled to damages,'' wrote Judge Leon Cannizzaro in a separate opinion agreeing with the 4-1 ruling.

The decision upholds some aspects of the 2004 jury verdict, the first ever to require cigarette makers to pay to help smokers quit. It also reversed at least half the amount in damages assessed by the jury and sent the case back to the trial court.

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