J&J’s appeal shot down over $2.12m payment due to allegedly carcinogenic talc products

pharmafile | November 4, 2020 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing J&J, JJ, baby powder, ovarian cancer, talc 

Johnson & Johnson has suffered a legal defeat in its ongoing dispute with consumers over damages relating to use of its baby powder products, after the Missouri Supreme Court rejected the company’s appeal over a payment of $2.12 million to a woman claiming that asbestos in J&J’s talc products led to her developing ovarian cancer.

J&J had disputed a decision by a state appeals court on 23 June that the company was liable to pay damages to plaintiffs, upholding a jury ruling from July 2018 which also dropped the company’s total payout from $4.69 billion after 22 claims were dismissed.

J&J stuck to its guns, arguing that the “fundamentally flawed trial” did not line up with “decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.” The company now plans to take the case to the US Supreme Court, and will reserve $2.1 billion for the verdict.

However, Kevin Parker, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, fired back, arguing that, “Johnson & Johnson should accept the findings of the jury and the appellate court and move forward with proper compensation to the victims.”

J&J is currently fighting more than 21,8000 lawsuits around the alleged carcinogenic properties of its talc products. The company confirmed in May earlier this year that it would be pulling its baby powder products from the US and Canadian markets.

Matt Fellows

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