Oregon Appeals Court Revives Marlboro Lights Class Action Lawsuit

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On June 19, the Oregon Court of Appeals determined that a class action lawsuit alleging Philip Morris misrepresented that Marlboro “Lights” cigarettes aren’t as bad as normal cigarettes could proceed.

The Marlboro Lights class action lawsuit was initially filed by Marilyn C. Pearson and Laura Grandin in 2002. They allege that Philip Morris had misrepresented cigarettes with lower tar and nicotine as being less harmful. Based on these representations, the plaintiffs believed that Marlboro Lights were not as unhealthy as regular cigarettes. They are seeking to be compensated for the money they spent on low-tar cigarettes from 1971 until 2001. They also seek to include nearly 100,000 Oregon smokers in the class action lawsuit.

After a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge threw out their case, their lawyers appealed. The appellate court found that a class action lawsuit was appropriate because the plaintiffs had demonstrated that the putative Class Members shared sufficient similarities. Smokers who purchased Marlboro Light cigarettes were highly likely to have been swayed by the cigarette company’s marketing, the court ruled.

The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit highlighted studies that showed people who smoked Marlboro Lights and other low-tar cigarettes inhaled more deeply and took more puffs of the cigarette than people who smoked regular cigarettes. These smokers received no benefit from smoking cigarettes that contained less tar. The plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that most Marlboro Lights smokers inhaled the same amount of tar and nicotine as those who smoked regular cigarettes. In one study, 82 percent of consumers believed that cigarettes that contained lower levels of tar and nicotine were less dangerous than regular cigarettes.

After scientific studies in the 1950s suggested a link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, consumer demand for safer cigarettes grew. In response to this consumer demand, cigarette companies began introducing new products such as filtered cigarettes and marketing these products as safer than regular cigarettes. Marlboro Lights were introduced in 1971. The package advertised that the cigarettes contained “Lowered Tar & Nicotine.” Studies have shown that smokers who are used to smoking regular cigarettes will adjust the method of smoking in order to obtain the same amount of nicotine even when smoking “light” cigarettes. Such adjustments can include smoking more “light” cigarettes to compensate for the lower nicotine yield or blocking the holes on the dilution filters.

In their class action lawsuit, plaintiffs allege that Philip Morris’s design and marketing efforts were intended “to preserve market share by filling a perceived demand for a cigarette which was less dangerous than regular cigarettes as an alternative to quitting smoking.” They claim that consumers were purchasing the “light” cigarettes because they falsely believed that the cigarettes contained less tar and nicotine than regular cigarettes.

The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit are seeking up to $1 billion in damages from Philip Morris.

This class action lawsuit is just one of many similar suits that have been filed against Philip Morris. Last June, a Missouri federal court allowed a class action lawsuit to continue against Philip Morris for misrepresenting the safety of Marlboro Lights, and a Minnesota Court of Appeals allowed a similar class action lawsuit to proceed in 2010.

The Oregon Marlboro Lights Class Action Lawsuit case is Pearson, et al. v. Philip Morris Companies Inc.

The plaintiffs are represented by Scott Shorr and Chuck Tauman.