A $590.9 million judgment against the tobacco industry is being challenged in a New Orleans courthouse, the Associated Press reported April 12.

In a case spanning 2003 and 2004, a district-court jury ruled that tobacco companies had fraudulently marketed an addictive product and plotted to sell it to kids; they ordered the industry to pay for nicotine patches, stop-smoking hotlines, and other programs to help state residents quit.

This week, an industry lawyer told the state's 4th Circuit Court of Appeal that the trial should have ended once the jury ruled that tobacco companies did not make a defective product. Lawyer Phillip Wittmann said that while the jury found that smokers were harmed by industry fraud, that was not a valid claim under state law.

Wittmann added that the judge in the case was wrong not to let jurors weigh how much the plaintiffs were at fault for smoking, or whether the case had been brought too late.

Lawyers defending the class-action suit said the findings of fraud and conspiracy were sufficient grounds for the award, and that such suits are the only way to hold tobacco companies accountable.