Italian high court rules for smoker's wife

ROME, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The highest court in Italy has upheld an award of damages from a tobacco company to the family of a man who died of lung cancer in 1991.

A lower court ruled that British American Tobacco should pay 200,000 euros ($291,000) to the family of Mario Stalteri. Stalteri had smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 40 years.

Codacons, an Italian consumer advocacy group, said that the decision clears the way for other families to get compensation.

"The sentence by the supreme court creates an important precedent and reiterates principles that can be brought to bear in other cases against tobacco producers," said Carlo Rienzi, the group's president.

Stalteri's family originally sued the Italian state tobacco company ETI, which was bought by BAT in 2003. In 2005, a court ruled in the family's favor, a first in Italy in tobacco litigation. The court found clear evidence that Stalteri's cancer was caused by his smoking.