MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled last week that a lawsuit against Philip Morris Inc. could proceed as a class-action claim, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The suit alleges that the tobacco company marketed its low-tar cigarettes as healthier than other cigarettes.

The three-judge panel clarified earlier rulings pertaining to Minnesota??s consumer fraud, false advertising and deceptive trade practices laws. If the appeals court decision holds, courts could be flooded with a wider range of consumer-protection lawsuits.

Nine years ago, Gregory Curtis and some other individuals filed the lawsuit claiming that Philip Morris?? advertising persuaded them that "light" cigarettes were less harmful than other tobacco products. The plaintiffs appealed last year??s dismissal of the suit, which asks for legal fees and the cost of purchased cigarettes, among other things.

The appeals court found that a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling allowed for such a lawsuit under the state??s consumer-protection laws. The judges also decided that case could be certified as class-action, citing the trial judge??s finding that "a class action is not only an appropriate method to resolve the plaintiffs?? allegations, but pragmatically, the only method whereby purchasers of Marlboro Lights in Minnesota can seek redress for the alleged deception."

"I think the impact is that the consumer fraud protection statute is alive and well, and that Minnesota consumers who are subject to misrepresentations are entitled to proceed on it, and are entitled to proceed as a class," said Kay Nord Hunt, an attorney for the lead plaintiff.

Philip Morris stated it would likely appeal the decision to the Minnesota Supreme Court. "We believe it is inappropriate to give class-action status to smokers?? claims because they raise numerous individual issues that can only be resolved based on the factual circumstances of each individual smoker," said Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and associate general counsel, which owns Philip Morris. "Today??s ruling is contrary to every federal court decision on whether cases such as these should be certified [as a class action] and the overwhelming majority of state court decisions on the issue."