New York's top court rejected a product liability claim against tobacco companies for selling regular cigarettes when they could have used lower levels of tar and nicotine.

In a 6-1 decision, the court of appeals upheld Tuesday a lower court ruling that found lawyers for the late Norma Rose failed to prove that "light" cigarettes had the same impact as regular cigarettes.
The court found that was a necessary element in determining whether cigarette companies were liable for not selling a "safer" product. Rose's lawyers had argued at trial that a jury could find that light cigarettes were safer than regular cigarettes, the court said.
The judges upheld a divided midlevel court. A jury had originally awarded USD 3.42 (EUR 2.5) million in compensatory damages to Rose and her husband, allocated equally among Brown & Williamson Tobacco and Philip Morris USA. It awarded USD 17.1 million in punitive damages against Philip Morris. (pi)