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A USA court has ordered the tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds to pay a woman $23.6 billion in damages. Cynthia Robinson filed her lawsuit in 2008 and fought the company for six years. Her husband Michael died of lung cancer in 1996. He started smoking when he was 13 and died two decades later. Mrs Robinson said the company was negligent in not telling her husband that nicotine is addictive and can lead to lung cancer. Tobacco companies knew in the 1950s that smoking could be lethal. Mrs Johnson's lawyer said of her husband: "He couldn't quit. He was smoking the day he died."

An R.J. Reynolds lawyer said the damages award was way too high, "grossly excessive" and legally "impermissible". He added: "This verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness and fairness and is completely inconsistent with the evidence presented." Mrs Robinson's lawyer said jurors looked at R.J. Reynolds' aggressive marketing. It particularly looked at campaigns aimed at young people. He said: "[R.J. Reynolds] lied to Congress, they lied to the public, they lied to smokers and tried to blame the smoker." He added that the jury's decision was "courageous".