Altria Group's Philip Morris subsidiary lost its final appeal in a case where the California courts ordered the company to pay $50 million to the family of a man who died of lung cancer, Reuters reported March 20.

The family of Richard Boeken, who died of lung cancer in 1999 at age 57, initially was awarded $3 billion in punitive damages by the jury in the case, but the judge in the case and an appeals court whittled that down to $50 million. This week, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the ruling made by a California appeals court.

Both Philip Morris and the Boeken family had asked for the high court to review the case. The tobacco company claimed that it should not be held accountable under state law for failing to warn smokers about the dangers of its products because federal law already mandates cigarette warning labels. The company also claimed that the $50-million award was "unconstitutionally excessive."

Boeken's widow told the Supreme Court that the company's illicit profits and misconduct should have been weighed in the punitive-damages award.