Philip Morris: Tobacco Products
In 2002, Philip Morris [now known as Altria Group, Inc. (MO)] faced charges in a suit filed by a woman who had lung cancer and claimed that smoking cigarettes had caused her sickness and that her tobacco addiction was caused by the tobacco company's failure to warn her of the risks of smoking. The company was ordered to pay punitive damages of a whopping $28 billion and $850,000 in compensatory damages. Philip Morris appealed the case and nine years later the amount was reduced to $28 million. (For more, see: Biggest Tobacco Lawsuits.)