Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, RJ Reynolds, Brown & Williamson and Lorillard Tobacco were found guilty of racketeering and misleading the public by using terms such as "low tar", "ultra light", "mild" and "natural," on packets of cigarettes, which imply the health risks are lower than they actually are.
The firms are now banned from using these on-pack terms and will be forced to pay millions of dollars towards the US Government's legal costs over the charges, which date back to 1999, but will not be forced to run anti-smoking campaigns in the US national press.
This is because of constraints imposed by a February 2005 ruling, which disallowed penalties for past conduct.
It is understood that Philip Morris plans to appeal the ruling, which it claims is "not supported by the law or the evidence presented at trial".
In a 1,700-page ruling, Judge Kessler wrote: "Over the course of more than 50 years, defendants lied, misrepresented and deceived the American public, including smokers and the young people they avidly sought as 'replacement smokers', about the devastating health effects of smoking and environmental tobacco smoke."
The verdict could have major implications for the US tobacco industry by greatly weakening the defence of a number of tobacco suits across the US.
Kessler added that the firms had destroyed documents, perpetuated addiction, distorted the truth about light cigarettes and abused the legal systems to their own ends, "[without] regard for individual suffering, soaring health costs, or the integrity of the legal system".
Kessler said: "Defendants have marketed and sold their lethal product with zeal, with deception, with a single-minded focus on their financial success, and without regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted."
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .
.jpg)
.jpg)