A US judge has given approval for a class action suit by American cigarette smokers against several tobacco companies for deceptive advertising. The suit, which seeks damages of up to $200 billion, claims that advertising for cigarettes sold as "light" versions of the popular brands suggests that they cause less health damage, which is not true. By grouping their legal action together in a class action suit, the smokers do not have to individually prove that the advertising misled them and that their health suffered as a result. Stock prices for tobacco companies such as Philip Morris dropped upon the news, and Philip Morris parent company the Altria Group postponed their plans to spin off their Kraft Foods company into a separate unit.