A jury awarded $260 million to an Oregon woman, Kyung Lee, after she claimed to have contracted mesothelioma—a terminal cancer associated with asbestos exposure—after using Johnson & Johnson’s talc powder. The New York-based company, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), has been ordered to compensate Lee.
The order was issued in Portland and involved $15 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in punitive damages for Lee and her husband. This verdict comes as Johnson & Johnson seeks a $6.48 billion settlement for most of the talc cases through a pre-negotiated bankruptcy plan.
J&J’s worldwide vice president of litigation, disagreed with the jury, arguing that the company produced over a hundred scientific studies from the last forty years proving that their talc products are asbestos-free and do not cause cancer. He said the company intends to appeal, expecting the case to be dismissed.
The 48-year-old mesothelioma patient alleged that she had been using the asbestos-contaminated talcum powder since the age of one when her mother applied it on her, and for over 30 years as a deodorant. Despite J&J’s assertion that their talc does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer, a J&J lawyer testified during the trial that Lee may have contracted mesothelioma from asbestos in a factory close to the talc mine during her childhood.
These claims involve the following reprised messages: mineral-based and asbestos-free talc, as well as baby powder, are safe for consumers; J&J knew the danger of asbestos in their talc and powder; and they concealed these dangers from the public and failed to warn consumers. To date, J&J faces more than 61,000 lawsuits from plaintiffs.
Although the majority of such cases concern patients with ovarian cancer, some also involve patients with mesothelioma. Most of the mesothelioma claims have been resolved, but J&J needs the consent of 75 percent of the remaining claimants to approve the proposed bankruptcy settlement. This would stop current and pending legal actions and mean that no more cases could be brought or plaintiffs could choose not to be bound by the settlement.
J&J has previously tried twice to resolve these cases through bankruptcy with no success, as the courts did not entertain it. The antitrust case firm still believes its current strategy will work given enough plaintiffs. Nevertheless, there has been a negative reaction, as a group of plaintiffs filed a class-action lawsuit on May 22 and declared the proposed settlement a “fraudulent” use of the bankruptcy system.
In high-profile trials of talc, there have been both victories and losses. Some notable case successes include a $2.1 billion verdict in 2021 for 22 women with ovarian cancer in a case unnamed vs. Winship, 2011. On the other hand, some trials ended in Johnson & Johnson’s favor, including April’s ovarian cancer case and a recent $45 million mesothelioma verdict.
