A jury in California has ruled to award $40 million to two women who claimed that the use of Johnson & Johnson baby powder led to the development of ovarian cancer. This was reported by The Guardian, according to UNN.
Details
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded $18 million to Monica Kent and $22 million to Deborah Schultz and her husband, concluding that Johnson & Johnson had been aware of the risks associated with its talc products for a long time but failed to inform consumers.
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Eric Haas, Johnson & Johnson's Vice President of Global Litigation, stated that the company intends to "immediately appeal this decision and expects it to be overturned, as is often the case with atypical negative verdicts."
According to court documents, Kent was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014, and Schultz in 2018. Both women are California residents and claim to have used J&J baby powder after bathing for 40 years. During the trial, they testified that ovarian cancer treatment involved extensive surgeries and dozens of rounds of chemotherapy.
It is noted that Johnson & Johnson faces over 67,000 lawsuits from people who claim to have developed cancer after using the company's baby powder and other talc products.
J&J insists that its products are safe, asbestos-free, and do not cause cancer.
In 2020, the company stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US, replacing it with a cornstarch-based product.
The company also attempted to resolve mass litigation through bankruptcy, but federal courts denied such a decision three times, most recently in April. During these attempts, most cases were put on hold.
J&J faces lawsuits from over 67,000 plaintiffs who claim they were diagnosed with cancer after using baby powder and other talc-based products from the company.
Most lawsuits involve claims of ovarian cancer. Cases alleging that talc caused a rare and deadly cancer—mesothelioma—account for a smaller fraction of the claims J&J faces.
According to The Guardian, the company previously settled some of these lawsuits out of court, but a nationwide agreement was not reached, so many mesothelioma cases have been heard in various state courts in recent months.
Over the past year, J&J has suffered several major defeats in these cases, including a verdict of over $900 million in Los Angeles in October.
Recall
An American cancer patient sued Roundup (a Bayer subsidiary) for over $2 billion. He claims he became ill from using Roundup herbicide.