Philip Morris USA will go back to the courts in an effort to modify a ruling in which a Louisiana trial judge ordered the nation's largest cigarette companies to pay some $263.5 million to fund a statewide, 10-year smoking cessation program.

The state's appellate court, in a 2007 opinion, found that individuals whose claims arose after Sept. 1, 1998 could not participate in the smoking cessation program. Philip Morris contends a trial is necessary to determine which smokers, if any, are eligible for the program and its costs if the case is to proceed.

"The company believes the trial court has disregarded the state appellate court's mandate to conduct further trial proceedings to determine how many persons may participate in the cessation program and the total cost of the program," said Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and associate general counsel, speaking on behalf of PM USA. More.