$17.8B tobacco lawsuit has begun in Montreal courtroom

This is a corrected version. A previous story said the lawsuit was for $27 billion.

MONTREAL – A landmark tobacco case has begun in a Canadian courtroom.

Canada’s three largest tobacco companies are set to square off against a group of Quebec smokers with up to $17.8 billion in damages and penalties at stake.

A Montreal courtroom will hear a class-action lawsuit from smokers who claim they were duped for years by big tobacco companies – as they became addicted to cigarettes and then suffered from serious health problems.

The landmark civil case is considered the biggest in Canadian history.

The case will also mark the first time tobacco companies have gone to trial in a civil suit in Canada.

The defendants are Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.; Rothmans, Benson & Hedges; and JTI-Macdonald.

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