J&J found liable for cancer in latest talc trial, ordered to pay $250K

J&J found liable for cancer in latest talc trial, ordered to pay $250K

A jury in Pennsylvania state courtroom on Friday awarded $250,000 to the household of a girl who sued Johnson & Johnson alleging its talc-based child powder was to blame for her ovarian cancer, according to an legal professional for plaintiffs in nationwide talc litigation against the company.

The jury in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas sided with members of the family of Gayle Emerson, who claimed that Johnson & Johnson knew for years its talc-based merchandise had been harmful however failed to warn shoppers, according to legal professional Chris Tisi.

Jurors awarded Emerson’s household $50,000 in compensatory damages and $200,000 in punitive damages, said Tisi, who represents plaintiffs in separate federal courtroom talc circumstances against Johnson & Johnson.

Jurors awarded a Pennsylvania girl’s household $50,000 in compensatory damages and $200,000 in punitive damages. REUTERS

Representatives for J&J and legal professionals for Emerson’s household didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

Emerson, a Pennsylvania resident, sued in 2019 and died six months later at the age of 68, according to courtroom data. Her son and daughter took over as the plaintiffs after she died of metastatic ovarian cancer, according to the lawsuit.

Emerson used J&J’s child powder from 1969 until 2017, when she realized from a relative it was related to an elevated threat of ovarian cancer, according to her lawsuit. She had been recognized with the cancer two years earlier, the lawsuit said.

J&J is going through lawsuits in federal and state courts from more than 67,000 plaintiffs who’ve alleged that its talc-based merchandise contained asbestos and precipitated ovarian and other cancers, according to courtroom filings.

The company has said its merchandise are secure, don’t include asbestos and don’t trigger cancer. J&J stopped promoting talc-based child powder in the US in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product.

J&J is going through lawsuits in federal and state courts from more than 67,000 plaintiffs who’ve alleged that its talc-based merchandise contained asbestos and precipitated ovarian and other cancers. AFP by way of Getty Images

J&J has sought to resolve the litigation by chapter, a proposal that has been rejected 3 times by federal courts, most not too long ago in April of last yr. The bankruptcies had put most ovarian cancer circumstances on maintain.

The first ovarian cancer case to go to trial after the end of the bankruptcy-related pause resulted in a California jury awarding $40 million to two women in December.

There are a number of circumstances slated for trial in state courts in the coming months. There has yet to be a trial in federal courtroom, the place most of the claims have been consolidated, however that may change this yr after a federal Justice of the Peace choose dominated in January that the plaintiffs in the federal litigation can current testimony from consultants that hyperlinks child powder use with ovarian cancer. J&J has said it’s going to attraction the ruling.

The company has said its merchandise are secure, don’t include asbestos and don’t trigger cancer. J&J stopped promoting talc-based child powder in the US in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product. Getty Images

Product legal responsibility lawsuits, such as the J&J circumstances, depend on consultants to set up that the product is able to inflicting the alleged hurt.

Before the chapter makes an attempt, J&J had a blended document in talc trials, with verdicts as high as $4.69 billion. The company has received some trials outright and had other verdicts diminished on attraction.

The majority of lawsuits contain ovarian cancer claims. Cases alleging talc precipitated a uncommon and lethal cancer called mesothelioma make up a smaller portion of the claims J&J is going through. The company has beforehand settled some of those claims however has not struck a nationwide settlement, so many lawsuits over mesothelioma have proceeded to trial in state courts in current months.

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