A jury in New Jersey has ordered drug giant Johnson & Johnson to pay $750 million to plaintiffs who filed talk powder cancer lawsuits claiming that the company’s baby powder caused them to develop cancer.
Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $750 million in punitive damages to four plaintiffs who filed suit alleging that the Johnson’s Baby Powder caused their cancer.
The case in New Jersey Superior Court centers around claims that baby powder sold by the company contained talc contaminated with asbestos, which has been linked directly to ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer that some evidence suggests is caused only by exposure to asbestos. The four plaintiffs in the New Jersey case developed mesothelioma after using Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder.
The trial was the first time that J&J Chief Executive Alex Gorsky testified in front of a jury in a case over the allegations that the company’s baby powder causes cancer. Gorsky at first, refused to testify but was later subpoenaed to testify by the court. Gorsky had in the past denied the link between the company’s products and cancer. In the latest case, however, he reversed his position, saying that he had been sharing information he was given by company experts.
The New Jersey decision is the latest in a spree of successful suits against Johnson & Johnson over its talc powder products. As of February, the company faces over 16,000 cases claiming that the company knowingly sold products containing asbestos-contaminated talc, causing some consumers to develop cancer.
The company is also the subject of a federal criminal investigation over its failure to disclose information about the possible risks associated with its product. Last year, a grand jury in Washington D.C. was looking into whether the company knowingly sold talcum powder products that contained carcinogens.
The momentum of consumer suits against Johnson & Johnson increased after a Reuters investigation in December 2018 showed that the company was aware that the talc used in their baby powder and other products likely contained asbestos. The investigation revealed how Johnson & Johnson then pressured the FDA to allow its products to remain on the market, despite the risks to consumers.
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