Women Awarded $4.7B in Talc Powder Lawsuit

They said asbestos in product contributed to cancer
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 13, 2018 1:01 AM CDT
$4.7B Awarded in Groundbreaking Talc Powder Lawsuit
Juries have awarded a series of big payouts to women who said they developed cancer by using the company's talc-based baby powder.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

A St. Louis jury on Thursday awarded nearly $4.7 billion in total damages to 22 women and their families after they claimed asbestos in Johnson & Johnson talcum powder contributed to their ovarian cancer. This was the first case against the company that focused on asbestos in the powder, the AP reports. The jury announced the $4.14 billion award in punitive damages shortly after awarding $550 million in compensatory damages. Johnson & Johnson called the verdict the result of an unfair process that allowed the women to sue the company in Missouri despite most of them not living in the state and said it would appeal, as it has in previous cases that found for women who sued the company.

"Johnson & Johnson remains confident that its products do not contain asbestos and do not cause ovarian cancer" and intends to appeal, spokeswoman Carol Goodrich said. Mark Lanier, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said in a statement that Johnson & Johnson had covered up evidence of asbestos in their products for more than 40 years. Medical experts testified during the trial that asbestos, a known carcinogen, is intermingled with mineral talc, which is the primary ingredient in Johnson & Johnson's Baby Powder and Shower to Shower products. The plaintiffs' lawyers said asbestos fibers and talc particles were found in the ovarian tissues of many of the women. "The company should pull talc from the market before causing further anguish, harm, and death from a terrible disease," Lanier said.

(More Johnson & Johnson stories.)

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