18 and 22: 40 million dollars in total for a new litigation that associates talc with the risk of cancer and in which, once again, Johnson & Johnson has stumbled. $40 million to compensate two more women with ovarian cancer.
The two have used talcum powder for decades and accused the company of hiding health risks. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical giant announces that it will appeal.
As reported by The Guardiana Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded $18 million to Monica Kent and $22 million to Deborah Schultz and her husband after confirming that Johnson & Johnson knew for years that its talc products were dangerous but failed to warn consumers.
What happened
According to court records, Kent was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014. Schultz was diagnosed in 2018. Both women are California residents and say they have used J&J baby powder for 40 years. From there, ovarian cancer that led to major surgeries and dozens of cycles of chemotherapy.
For its part, Allison BrownJohnson & Johnson lawyer, reportedly said that the only people who told Kent and Schultz that their tumors were caused by talc were their lawyers, because the “The alleged link is not supported by any major US health authority and there is no study showing that talc can migrate from outside the body to the reproductive organs“.
Fact is, J&J has been facing lawsuits for years from more than 67,000 plaintiffs who claim they were diagnosed with cancer after using its talcum powder and other talcum-based products. Yet, the company continues to claim that its products are safe, do not contain asbestos and do not cause cancer. Meanwhile, J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the United States in 2020, switching to a cornstarch-based product.
