Jury Awards $40 Million to Two Women in J&J Talc Lawsuit

A Los Angeles jury has awarded $40 million to two women who allege that using talcum powder produced by Johnson & Johnson caused their ovarian cancer. The decision, made on Friday, is a significant development in an ongoing legal battle over claims connecting talc in the company’s products, including Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower body powder, to serious health issues such as ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer affecting the lungs and other organs.

The jury awarded $18 million to Monica Kent and $22 million to Deborah Schultz and her husband. Their attorney, Daniel Robinson of the Robinson Calcagnie law firm in Newport Beach, California, expressed that the women were simply loyal customers of the company for approximately 50 years. He stated, “That loyalty was a one-way street.”

In response to the verdict, Erik Haas, J&J’s worldwide vice president of litigation, announced the company plans to appeal the jury’s decision regarding liability and compensatory damages. He highlighted that the company had previously won 16 of the 17 ovarian cancer cases it had tried, asserting confidence in a positive outcome upon appeal. Haas criticized the jury’s findings, labeling them “irreconcilable with the decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming that talc is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer.”

This ruling contributes to a larger context of legal scrutiny surrounding J&J’s talcum powder products. In October, a California jury ordered the company to pay $966 million to the family of a woman who died of mesothelioma, claiming her cancer was caused by asbestos contamination in the baby powder she used.

In response to the growing legal challenges, Johnson & Johnson ceased the global sale of talc-based powder in 2023, replacing it with cornstarch in most North American markets. Furthermore, in April, a U.S. bankruptcy court judge denied J&J’s plan to allocate $9 billion to settle various litigation claims related to ovarian cancer and other gynecological cancers associated with talc products.

As the legal battle continues, the implications for J&J and its consumer products remain significant, impacting public perception and financial responsibility for health-related claims. The outcome of the appeal will be closely monitored as it may set further precedents in similar cases.