Three cigarette companies appeal 2015 landmark Quebec judgment

Three major tobacco firms are appealing a landmark $15 billion Superior Court ruling they lost in June 2015.

Lawyers for Imperial Tobacco, JTI-Macdonald and Rothmans-Benson & Hedges began arguments today during hearings that are expected to last until the end of the week.

READ MORE: Quebec toughens tobacco laws

The companies were targeted by two separate lawsuits heard at the same time that were filed in 1998 and only went to trial in 2012.

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They were sued by people who were addicted to cigarettes and couldn’t quit as well as by those who had suffered from cancer or emphysema.

READ MORE: $15 billion awarded to Quebec smokers in landmark class-action lawsuit

Some 76 witnesses testified and nearly 43,000 documents were deposited as evidence, including internal tobacco company documents that showed smokers didn’t know or understand the risks associated with cigarettes.

READ MORE: Quebec tables bill targeting e-cigarettes, smoking on patios

Cigarette companies argued their customers knew the risks of smoking and that their products were sold legally and were strictly regulated by the federal government.