Following a jury trial in Missouri’s 22nd Circuit Court, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay more than $110m to a woman who said that feminine hygiene use of the firm’s talc-based products over 40 years caused ovarian cancer, a decision New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J says it will appeal. The eye-popping verdict is the fourth and largest loss for J&J in the continuing legal saga over allegations that talc in Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower can lead to cancer when used for feminine hygiene purposes. It comes after J&J won the last talc case in the same St. Louis court with a new defense team, which was installed following losses in three cases that resulted in jury verdicts of $72m, $55m and $70m in 2016.(Also see "J&J Talc Verdict Clears Firm Of Cancer Blame; Is Tide Turning In St. Louis?" - HBW Insight, 6 March, 2017.). In the latest case, the jury awarded Virginia resident Lois Slemp $5.4m in compensatory damages and $105m in punitive damages after deliberations of more than a day, according to a blog post from the Courtroom View Network. Talc supplier Imerys Talc America was also found partially responsible in the case, and was ordered to pay approximately $100,000.
During the trial, J&J and Imerys both rejected arguments by the plaintiff’s attorneys that the powder used contained asbestos-contaminated talc, arguments that were not brought up in the previous St. Louis trials, according to CVN. J&J again changed up its legal defense team for the case, leaning on new outside counsel. While the firm was successful last year in getting two talc cases in New Jersey dismissed, it continues to face thousands of related suits. (Also see "J&J Talc Suit Dismissals: Plaintiffs Lack Causation Thread For Proof Quilt" - HBW Insight, 8 September, 2016.) Another talc case is slated to be heard in the same St. Louis court in June, and will include claims from five plaintiffs. J&J will see its first talc appeal head to court, which challenges the first St
