The 2nd District Court of Appeal in California has upheld a $28-million punitive-damages award against Philip Morris, calling the company's actions "extremely reprehensible," Law.com reported April 24.

The court said that the punitive award, which is 33 times greater than the compensatory damages in the case, deserved to be an exception to recent legal precedent advising against punitive awards greater than 10 times compensatory awards.

"Philip Morris' persistent efforts to mislead the public about the health hazards of smoking despite its understanding that smoking was hazardous, show that 'strong medicine is required to cure the defendant's disrespect for the law,'" wrote Justice H. Walter Croskey in the 2-1 decision.

The original jury award in the case filed on behalf of sick smoker Betty Bullock was $850,000 in compensatory damages and $28 billion in punitive damages. Bullock later agreed to reduce the award to $28 million to avoid a second trial; she died in February 2003.

But Philip Morris appealed the reduced award, citing the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 opinion that "in practice, few awards exceeding a single-digit ratio between punitive and compensatory damages, to a significant degree, will satisfy due process." The tobacco company also indicated that it will appeal the latest ruling to the California Supreme Court.