In March 2003, a trial court in Madison County awarded lead plaintiff Sharon Price and more than a million other past and present Illinois smokers $10.1 billion for Philip Morris' allegedly fraudulent marketing claims that its light and low-tar cigarettes were less hazardous than regular cigarettes. The plaintiffs argued they deserved compensation because the claims about reduced risk had misled them into buying a style of cigarettes that they may not have purchased had they known the truth.
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