UPDATE 2-Quebec appeals court upholds 2015 tobacco class action

The Court of Appeal of Quebec upheld on Friday the bulk of a 2015 decision that awarded C$15 billion ($11.28 billion) in damages and interest to smokers in the Canadian province, dealing a blow to Big Tobacco. The judgment involves class action suits that were consolidated against the Canadian subsidiaries of British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International, known respectively as Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc and JTI-MacDonald Corp.

The companies were appealing a 2015 ruling from the Quebec Superior Court to award damages to some 100,000 Quebec smokers and ex-smokers who alleged the companies knew since the 1950s that their product was causing cancer and other illnesses and failed to warn consumers adequately. Radio-Canada reported that the tobacco companies would now be required to pay more than C$17 billion, reflecting additional interest.

JTI-Macdonald said in a statement that it "fundamentally disagrees" with the judgment and that Canadians "have had a very high awareness of the health risks of smoking." It said it would "consider all options, including asking for permission to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada." The judgment comes as smoking rates are falling around the world, due to growing health-consciousness, tighter regulation and higher taxes. Big Tobacco firms are instead pouring billions into vaping devices that deliver nicotine through vapor they say is less harmful than smoke.

While big tobacco companies in the United States have faced lawsuits for decades, the Quebec class action marked the first time tobacco companies went to trial in a civil suit in Canada, and is considered to be the largest civil case in the country's history. "This is a huge defeat for the tobacco industry," said Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst from the Canadian Cancer Society in an emailed statement. "The Court of Appeal did reverse the Superior Court on some relatively minor points, but that does not materially change the overall result."

The two Quebec suits, called the Letourneau and Blais cases, were filed in 1998 and certified as class actions in 2005. They were consolidated into one before the 2012 start of trial proceedings, which ended in 2014. ($1 = 1.3292 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Allison Lampert; Editing by Leslie Adler and Sonya Hepinstall)