Philip Morris to cough up $28 billion

64-year old Betty Bullock's lawyer, Michael Piuze, argued that Philip Morris concealed the dangers of cigarettes with a widespread disinformation campaign that began in the 1950s. He described it as "the largest fraud scheme ever perpetrated by corporation anywhere".

In his defence of Bullock Piuze used cigarette ads from her teenage years and internal tobacco industry documents to support his contention that Philip Morris concealed the dangers of cigarettes. Bullock, who started smoking when she was 17, has been diagnosed with lung cancer that has spread to her liver.

The biggest verdict ever won by an individual against a tobacco company before the Bullock court case was $3 billion to Richard Boeken, who died of cancer in January. The verdict was later reduced by a judge to $100 million.