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A jury in California has approved a damage claim of $40 million (approximately Rs. 332 crores) in damages to two plaintiffs. The sufferers alleged that they developed ovarian cancer after using talc powder by healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson for over seven decades.
The jury in this case delivered this verdict in a Los Angeles Superior Court case on Friday, December 12.
Monica Kent and Deborah Schultz are California residents. The plaintiffs told the court that they used Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder nearly every day after bathing for close to 40 years. They alleged that this exposure led to them being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, forcing them to undergo major medical treatment.
As Reuters reported with information from court documents, Kent’s ovarian cancer was diagnosed in 2014, while Schultz’s was diagnosed in 2018. Schultz’s husband was a defendant in this lawsuit due to the effects of the ovarian cancer on their family life.
In addition, both women stated that their treatment incorporated major surgeries and a series of chemotherapy sessions.
Kent won the case against Johnson & Johnson and was awarded $18 million, and Schultz and her husband were awarded $22 million. Jurors felt that Johnson & Johnson had known the dangers of talc products for years but failed to inform its consumers.
Andy Birchfield, an attorney representing the women, told the jury in a lawsuit in St. Louis, Missouri, that internal company records indicated Johnson & Johnson knew as early as the 1960s that talc could be a potential source of cancer.
Johnson & Johnson has said it will appeal both the liability finding and the damages awarded. The company maintains that its products are safe and that there is no scientific consensus linking talc-based powders to ovarian cancer.
“Allison Brown, the company’s attorney, argued that only the plaintiffs’ experts claimed a causal link between talc and cancer,” according to AP. She added that no major US health authority supports such a link and that studies have not shown talc to travel from external skin application to the reproductive organs.
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The verdict is the latest development in a massive wave of litigation against Johnson & Johnson. According to court filings cited by Reuters, more than 67,000 people have filed lawsuits alleging that talc-based products caused ovarian cancer or mesothelioma, a rare cancer affecting the lungs.
Johnson & Johnson stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US in 2020, switched to a cornstarch-based formula, and ended global sales of talc powder in 2023.
