Hopefully this will be the start of a trend...

Finally, some sanity in the whole I'm-too-stupid-to-know-that-smoking-was-bad-for-me excuse that sick smokers use to steal money they didn't earn from the tobacco companies. We've known cigarette smoke was harmful and addictive for at least 40 years.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a $145 billion punitive damage award against tobacco companies for injuring smokers, saying it was excessive. The award had been the largest ever by an American jury.
The justices also approved an appellate court ruling that it had been a mistake to certify a class-action lawsuit representing an estimated 300,000 to 700,000 ill Floridians. The certification led to the huge jury award for punitive damages in 2000.

Too bad we don't have the loser-pays legal system in this country. Every smoker's attorney out there who brought a losing case against the tobacco industry would then have to pay the court costs associated with the fraudulent suit, including the defense's legal fees. That'll make them think twice befor trying to claim that they didn't know smoking was bad for them.