Jury orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $966m in talc cancer case

A Los Angeles tribunal orders the pharma elephantine to wage damages to the household of Mae Moore, who died of mesothelioma successful 2021.

Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to wage $966m to the household of a pistillate who died from mesothelioma, uncovering the institution liable successful the latest suit alleging its babe pulverization products origin cancer.

The tribunal successful Los Angeles handed down the ruling precocious connected Monday.

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The pharmaceutical elephantine has to wage the household of Mae Moore, who died successful 2021. The household sued the institution the aforesaid year, claiming Johnson & Johnson’s talc babe pulverization products contained asbestos fibres that caused her uncommon cancer. The assemblage ordered the institution to wage $16m successful compensatory damages and $950m successful punitive damages, according to tribunal filings.

The verdict could beryllium reduced connected entreaty arsenic the United States Supreme Court has recovered that punitive damages should mostly beryllium nary much than 9 times compensatory damages.

Erik Haas, J&J’s worldwide vice president of litigation, said successful a connection that the institution plans to instantly appeal, calling the verdict “egregious and unconstitutional”.

“The plaintiff lawyers successful this Moore lawsuit based their arguments connected ‘junk science’ that ne'er should person been presented to the jury,” Haas charged.

The institution has said its products are safe, bash not incorporate asbestos and bash not origin cancer. This isn’t the archetypal clip Johnson & Johnson was ordered to wage damages to a household aft a suit that alleged a nexus betwixt crab and its babe pulverization products.

In 2016, a Missouri tribunal ordered the institution to wage $72m to the household of Jacqueline Fox, who died of ovarian cancer.

In 2024, Johnson & Johnson was besides ordered to wage $700m to settee lawsuits alleging it misled consumers astir information aft an probe brought by 43 authorities attorneys general.

J&J stopped selling talc-based babe pulverization successful the US successful 2020, switching to a cornstarch product. By 2023, it had ended talc-based babe pulverization sales as well.

Trey Branham, 1 of the attorneys representing Moore’s family, said aft the verdict that his squad is “hopeful that Johnson & Johnson volition yet judge work for these senseless deaths”.

Thousands of lawsuits

J&J is facing lawsuits from much than 67,000 plaintiffs who accidental they were diagnosed with crab aft utilizing its babe pulverization and different talc products, according to tribunal filings. The fig of lawsuits alleging talc caused mesothelioma is simply a tiny subset of these cases with the immense bulk involving ovarian crab claims.

J&J has sought to resolve the litigation through bankruptcy, a connection that has been rejected 3 times by national courts.

Lawsuits alleging talc caused mesothelioma were not portion of the past bankruptcy proposal. The institution has antecedently settled immoderate of those claims but has not struck a nationwide settlement, truthful galore lawsuits implicit mesothelioma person proceeded to proceedings successful authorities courts successful caller months.

In the past year, J&J has been deed with several important verdicts in mesothelioma cases, but Monday’s is among the largest. The institution has won immoderate of the mesothelioma trials, including past week successful South Carolina, wherever a assemblage recovered J&J not liable.