The Missouri state court conducted a three-week trial in the case and the jurors deliberated nearly a day before returning with a verdict. The St Louis jury deliberated eight hours before ordering Johnson & Johnson to pay 55 million U.S. dollars to a South Dakota woman who blamed her ovarian cancer on years of talcum powder use. In February, a jury awarded $72 million to the family of Jackie Fox, who was a frequent user of the company’s talcum powder products and died of ovarian cancer in 2015. Johnson & Johnson has been facing almost 1,200 lawsuits that have accused the company of not adequately warning consumers regarding the cancer risks of its talc-based products. Talc was found in her ovarian tissue after a hysterectomy. The common link: both claim the company’s baby powder containing talc is to blame for giving them cancer.
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But other studies have found no definitive link, the company said. J&J spokeswoman Carol Goodrich was of the view that the judgment does not gel with the 30 years of research that supports the safety of cosmetic talc. Thankfully, she is now in remission.
What else could I use? Talc is a mineral composed of magnesium, silicon, oxygen and hydrogen and is a common ingredient in makeup and personal hygiene products because of its ability to absorb moisture.
Deane Berg didn’t win any damages in that first case, but her 2013 victory with attorneys Gregory Eiesland of Rapid City and R. Allen Smith of MS caught the attention of St. Louis litigator Jim Onder.
Gloria Ristesund filed the lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson.
“If they can’t win that one, they can’t win one”, he said. “When you have two, it starts to look like a trend, and a very worrying one for Johnson & Johnson”.
A prosecutor said on Tuesday in Jefferson City that the verdict, which J&J planned to appeal, was the second straight trial loss for the company.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies genital use as “possibly carcinogenic”.
Ted Meadows, a lawyer at Beasley Allen law firm said, “This second jury verdict affirms that Johnson & Johnson knew that its talcum powder products posed a risk to women’s health, but they did nothing to warn the public”. Ovarian cancer is highly deadly because it is often diagnosed too late.
“It’s probably just safer not to use talc for that reason”, he said.
It added that scientists disclosed that the evidence of a real danger is inconclusive.
The American Cancer Society says most concerns about a link between talcum powder and cancer focus on two areas: Whether people with long-term exposure to natural talc fibers at work, such as talc miners, are at higher risk of lung cancer; and whether women who apply talc regularly in the genital area have increased risk of ovarian cancer.
After a three week trial, a St. Louis jury agreed with Ristesund.
Another jury, considering a talc lawsuit in a South Dakota federal court, decided in 2013 that J&J was negligent but didn’t award damages.
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The plaintiffs contend Johnson & Johnson was aware of the health risks associated with the products and their suggested use.
