Altria Group’s Philip Morris USA and other major cigarette makers asked the Florida Supreme Court to reconsider and clarify parts of its decision last month to dismiss a US$ 145 billion punitive-damage award against the industry.

Although last month's decision in the so-called Engle case was largely favourable to the cigarette makers, the court's opinion allowed smokers to sue the tobacco companies and use the factual findings of a jury in 2000 in their own cases. In their motion, the companies asked the court to reconsider its decision to uphold the factual findings of the lower court, including that smoking causes disease and that the companies negligently misled smokers about the dangers of their products.
The cigarette makers argued that it is unfair for other juries to apply the findings from the Engle trial to future individual claims. The companies also said the court failed to address a number of other issues in their appeal that were left unresolved by the appellate court.
In the wake of the 6 July 2006 ruling, several smokers in Florida have already filed their own individual suits against the cigarette companies. The original lawsuit was filed more than a decade ago on behalf of Howard Engle and other Florida residents, who claim they became sick after smoking cigarettes. In addition to Philip Morris, the defendants in the case include Reynolds American's RJ Reynolds Tobacco, Loews’ Lorillard Tobacco Company, and Vector Group's Liggett Tobacco. Altria Group's Philip Morris USA and other major cigarette makers asked the Florida Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to uphold certain factual findings of a lower court, including that the companies negligently misled smokers about the dangers of their products.