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Contingencies (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2016
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Schedule of Loss Contingencies By Contingency | The changes in Altria Group, Inc.’s accrued liability for tobacco and health litigation items, including related interest costs, for the periods specified below are as follows:
(in millions) | 2016 |  |  | 2015 |  |  | 2014 |
Accrued liability for tobacco and health litigation items at beginning of year | $ | 132 |  |  | $ | 39 |  |  | $ | 3 |
Pre-tax charges for: |  |  |  |  |
Tobacco and health judgments | 21 |  |  | 84 |  |  | 11 |
Related interest costs | 7 |  |  | 23 |  |  | 2 |
Agreement to resolve federal Engle progeny cases | — |  |  | 43 |  |  | — |
Agreement to resolve Aspinall including related interest costs | 32 |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Agreement to resolve Miner | 45 |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Implementation of corrective communications remedy pursuant to the federal government’s lawsuit | — |  |  | — |  |  | 31 |
Payments | (190 | ) |  | (57 | ) |  | (8 | )
Accrued liability for tobacco and health litigation items at end of year | $ | 47 |  |  | $ | 132 |  |  | $ | 39 |
The table below lists the number of certain tobacco-related cases pending in the United States against PM USA(1) and, in some instances, Altria Group, Inc. as of December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014:
| 2016 |  | 2015 |  | 2014
Individual Smoking and Health Cases (2) | 70 |  | 65 |  | 67
Smoking and Health Class Actions and Aggregated Claims Litigation (3) | 5 |  | 5 |  | 5
Health Care Cost Recovery Actions (4) | 1 |  | 1 |  | 1
“Lights/Ultra Lights” Class Actions | 8 |  | 11 |  | 12
(1) Does not include 25 cases filed on the asbestos docket in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland, which seek to join PM USA and other cigarette-manufacturing defendants in complaints previously filed against asbestos companies. (2) Does not include 2,485 cases brought by flight attendants seeking compensatory damages for personal injuries allegedly caused by exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (“ETS”). The flight attendants allege that they are members of an ETS smoking and health class action in Florida, which was settled in 1997 (Broin). The terms of the court-approved settlement in that case allowed class members to file individual lawsuits seeking compensatory damages, but prohibited them from seeking punitive damages. Also, does not include individual smoking and health cases brought by or on behalf of plaintiffs in Florida state and federal courts following the decertification of the Engle case (discussed below in Smoking and Health Litigation - Engle Class Action). (3) Includes as one case the 600 civil actions (of which 344 were actions against PM USA) that were to be tried in a single proceeding in West Virginia (In re: Tobacco Litigation). The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that the United States Constitution did not preclude a trial in two phases in this case. Issues related to defendants’ conduct and whether punitive damages are permissible were tried in the first phase. Trial in the first phase of this case began in April 2013. In May 2013, the jury returned a verdict in favor of defendants on the claims for design defect, negligence, failure to warn, breach of warranty, and concealment and declined to find that the defendants’ conduct warranted punitive damages. Plaintiffs prevailed on their claim that ventilated filter cigarettes should have included use instructions for the period 1964 - 1969. The second phase will consist of trials to determine liability and compensatory damages. In November 2014, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed the final judgment. In July 2015, the trial court entered an order that will result in the entry of final judgment in favor of defendants and against all but 30 plaintiffs who potentially have a claim against one or more defendants that may be pursued in a second phase of trial. The court intends to try the claims of these 30 plaintiffs in six consolidated trials, each with a group of five plaintiffs. The first trial is currently scheduled to begin May 1, 2018. Dates for the five remaining consolidated trials have not been scheduled. (4) See Health Care Cost Recovery Litigation - Federal Government’s Lawsuit below.

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