My heart just bleeds ....

... for Phillip Morris (Now Altria Group Inc.).

The Supreme Court apparently denied cert to their case where a Los Angeles County jury awarded the family of a dead smoker $5.5 million in damages and $3 billion (later reduced to $100 million) in punitive damages. Going to show that there are times when multiple digit multipliers (in this case 18:1) will be upheld.

(Hat tip to the TortsProfBlog of Prof. William G. Childs)