Philip Morris International Inc.'s Canadian Subsidiary, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc., to Appeal Decision in Québec Class Action Tobacco Suits

Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE/Euronext Paris:PM), will appeal the judgment of a trial court in Québec that found in favor of plaintiffs in two class action lawsuits.

Philip Morris International Inc. is not a party to the cases and is not liable for any portion of this judgment.

“These two class actions in Canada are outliers and unique to Canada. They were outliers when filed in 1998 and, since then, courts have consistently rejected these types of class actions. Class actions are not designed for personal injury cases like these, where each class member’s experience is unique. Individuals begin smoking for different reasons, at different points in time, and have different experiences with smoking,” said Marc Firestone, Senior Vice President and General Counsel.

“Philip Morris International Inc. and its affiliates have been involved in tobacco litigation since 1995 and have been overwhelmingly successful in defending themselves,” said Firestone. “Courts around the world have concluded that smokers are well aware of the dangers of smoking and are not entitled to money damages in light of these well-known dangers.”

Please refer to Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc.’s press release (http://www.tobaccolitigation.ca/2015/pr/) for more information.

The cases are Létourneau v. Imperial Tobacco Canada Limitée, et al. (the addiction class), and Conseil Québécois sur le Tabac et la Santé (CQTS) et Blais v. JTI-Macdonald Corp., et al. (the disease class) before the Superior Court of the District of Montréal, Province of Québec.

Philip Morris International Inc.

Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is the leading international tobacco company, with six of the world's top 15 international brands, including Marlboro, the number one cigarette brand worldwide. PMI's products are sold in more than 180 markets. In 2014, the company held an estimated 15.6% share of the total international cigarette market outside of the U.S., or 28.6% excluding the People's Republic of China and the U.S. For more information, see www.pmi.com.

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Contact information

Media:
Rothmans, Benson & Hedges
T: +1 416-442-3545
E: media@rbhinc.ca
or
Philip Morris International media office
T: +41 (0)58 242 4500
E: media@pmi.com