J&J Told to Pay $29 Million in Mesothelioma Case
A California jury has ordered US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson to pay $29 million to a woman who claimed her routine use of its talc products caused her mesothelioma, a cancer linked to asbestos exposure.
The jury said the “asbestos-laced” baby powder was a “substantial contributing factor” in her cancer’s development. It also cited J&J for failing to adequately warn about the powder’s potential risks.
Teresa Leavitt, a 48-year-old mother of two, said she used the products from childhood into adulthood. According to the Bloomberg news agency, doctors testified at the trial that she has no more than a year to live.
Attorneys for J&J argued in court that there was no conclusive evidence that talc caused the disease. The company has been in litigation over the talc-cancer link for years and has lost several high-stakes cases while winning others, some on appeal.
The highest payout a plaintiff in the talc cases has received to date was the nearly $4.7 billion verdict awarded to 22 plaintiffs in July 2018.
J&J said it was "disappointed” with the latest judgment, insisting that its iconic baby powder “does not contain asbestos or cause cancer." It also cited “serious procedural and evidentiary errors” in the trial just ended trial and said it had filed for a mistrial.
The company’s talc supplier, Imerys Talc Americas, was dropped as a defendant in the Leavitt case in mid-February after the subsidiary of the French mining company, which is facing billions of dollars in liabilities, filed for bankruptcy protection under US Chapter 11.
In its latest securities filing, J&J said it now faces over 13,000 talc suits, up from more than 11,000 as of last year. It acknowledged also it has received subpoenas and inquiries about its talc baby powder products from federal prosecutors and securities regulators.
Imerys’ Chapter 11 filing frees the company from the ongoing litigation, with its financial liability now in the hands of bankruptcy courts. In the filing, the company said it had worked with J&J on talc legal exposure for more than 30 years; however, the parties are currently at odds over who should pay jury awards. Imerys reportedly faces more than 14,000 talc-related suits.
