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Jury Rejects Medical Monitoring Case Against Philip Morris

In this 2014 file photo, Philip Morris' Marlboro cigarettes are on display at a market in Palo Alto, Calif. (Paul Sakuma/AP)
In this 2014 file photo, Philip Morris' Marlboro cigarettes are on display at a market in Palo Alto, Calif. (Paul Sakuma/AP)

A federal jury has rejected claims by a group of Massachusetts smokers who sued Philip Morris USA to try to force the cigarette maker to pay for lung cancer screenings.

The jury in its verdict Wednesday found that smokers in the class-action lawsuit did not prove that Marlboro cigarettes were defectively designed.

The smokers were not seeking money. Instead they wanted Philip Morris to pay for a medical-monitoring program, including three-dimensional chest scans that can detect signs of early-stage lung cancer.

Philip Morris said this is the third such medical-monitoring case to go to trial, and each time, the jury has ruled in the company's favor.

Attorneys for the smokers did not immediately return calls.

The judge indicated she will decide whether there was a violation of Massachusetts consumer protection laws.

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