Court Orders Johnson & Johnson To Pay Woman More Than $500M Over Talc-Cancer Link

A court has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay a woman over $500M after she claimed she developed ovarian cancer after using the company’s talc-based products.

The Los Angeles Superior Court decided in favour of 62-year-old Eva Echeverria, from California, and ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay her $525 million ($US417M) after using Johnson’s Baby Powder for feminine hygiene.

It was the largest to date in lawsuits accusing J&J of failing to warn consumers about the cancer risks of talc-based products.

A spokeswoman for Ms Echeverria’s lawyers said that the verdict included $US70 million in compensatory damages and US$347 million in punitive damages.

During the trial, Ms Echeverria’s lawyers alleged that J&J encouraged women to use its talc products despite knowing through years of studies (source: consumer safety.org) the link between ovarian cancer and genital talc use.

However, J&J’s lawyers argued that different scientific studies as well as federal agencies including the US Food and Drug Administration have not found that talc products are carcinogenic.

The trial follows five previous trials in Missouri state court where J&J lost four of those trials.

The New Jersey-based company, along with a talc supplier, has also been hit with a total of $US307 million in verdicts.

Before Monday’s verdict, the largest was for $US110 million.

“We will appeal today’s verdict because we are guided by the science, which supports the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder,” J&J said in a statement.

Sources: Au.news.yahoo.com