Johnson & Johnson to pay $40 million to two women in ovarian cancer suit

On December 12, the jury directed Johnson & Johnson to pay $18 million to Monica Kent and $22 million to Deborah Schultz and her husband

A California jury has awarded $40 million to two women who linked Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder to their ovarian cancer and held the company liable for failing to warn consumers, according to a Reuters report.

 

The jury in Los Angeles Superior Court last week ruled against Johnson & Johnson and awarded damages to two California women who said long-term use of the company’s talc-based baby powder led to their ovarian cancer.

 

On December 12, the jury granted $18 million to Monica Kent and $22 million to Deborah Schultz and her husband. The panel concluded that Johnson & Johnson knew for years that its talc products posed risks but did not adequately inform consumers.

 

 

What is the case about?

 

Court records show Kent was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014, while Schultz received her diagnosis in 2018. Both women told the court they used Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder after bathing for nearly four decades.

 

During the trial, the women testified that their cancer treatment involved major surgeries and multiple rounds of chemotherapy, which significantly affected their lives and health.

 

In closing arguments viewed by Reuters on Courtroom View Network, Andy Birchfield, counsel for the plaintiffs, told jurors that the company was aware of potential cancer risks linked to talc as early as the 1960s.

 

“Absolutely, they knew. They knew and were doing everything they could to hide it, to bury the truth about the dangers,” Birchfield said.

 

What is the company’s response?

 

Johnson & Johnson said it will challenge the verdict.

 

In a statement cited by Reuters, Erik Haas, the company’s worldwide vice-president of litigation, said it plans to “immediately appeal this verdict and expect to prevail, as we typically do with aberrant adverse verdicts.”

 

Allison Brown, an attorney for Johnson & Johnson, argued before the jury that no major US health authority supports a link between talc and ovarian cancer. She said the only people who told Kent and Schultz that talc caused their cancer were their lawyers.

 

“They do not have the evidence in this case, and they hope you do not mind,” Brown told the jury, as reported by Reuters.

 

What are the baby powder cases?

 

Johnson & Johnson faces lawsuits from more than 67,000 plaintiffs who claim they developed cancer after using the company’s baby powder and other talc products, according to court filings cited by Reuters.

 

The company maintains that its products are safe, asbestos-free and do not cause cancer. In 2020, it stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US and switched to a cornstarch-based alternative.

 

J&J has repeatedly attempted to resolve the litigation through a subsidiary’s bankruptcy filing. Federal courts have rejected this strategy three times, most recently in April. These bankruptcy efforts paused most cases, making the Kent and Schultz trials the first to proceed after the latest Chapter 11 attempt failed.

 

Before the bankruptcy bids, the company recorded mixed outcomes in talc-related trials. Some juries awarded damages as high as $4.69 billion, while Johnson & Johnson won several cases outright or secured reductions on appeal.

 

Most lawsuits centre on ovarian cancer claims. A smaller number involve mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive cancer. Johnson & Johnson has settled some mesothelioma cases but has not reached a nationwide agreement, leading to continued trials in state courts.

 

Over the past year, the company has faced several large verdicts in mesothelioma cases, including one exceeding $900 million in Los Angeles in October.