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Cosmetic News In Brief: J&J Incurs Third Talc Trial Loss; Lauder Acquires BECCA; More

J&J again failed to convince a St. Louis jury that available evidence does not support alleged links between its Johnson’s Baby Powder and cases of ovarian cancer, marking the third costly loss in the Missouri circuit court this year; More cosmetics news in brief.

Firm says it will appeal an Oct. 27 jury finding in Missouri’s 22nd Circuit Court, which awarded nearly $71m to a woman claiming to have developed ovarian cancer as a result of decades-long use of Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products for feminine hygiene purposes. According to a same-day blog post from Courtroom View Network, which webcast the trial “gavel-to-gavel,” J&J has been ordered to pay plaintiff Deborah Giannecchini $67.5m in punitive damages and $2.57m in compensatory damages in the third costly verdict against the firm in the St. Louis court this year. This time, J&J’s talc supplier Imerys Talc America also was found partially responsible, which puts it on the hook for covering 10% of the compensatory damages and $2.5m of the total punitive award, the CVN post notes. J&J maintains the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder, telling CVN that it is “guided by the science” in its plan to appeal.

Thousands more suits have been filed against the firm, primarily in Missouri and New Jersey courts. The latter have proven favorable to J&J to date, with a Jersey state court dismissing a pair of talc cases in September due to plaintiffs’ failure to present a convincing causation theory. (Also see "J&J Talc Suit Dismissals: Plaintiffs Lack Causation Thread For Proof Quilt" - HBW Insight, 8 September, 2016

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