Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $417M to ovarian cancer victim, illness caused by baby powder talc
A $417 million judgement came down in favor of a female plaintiff on August 21 in a Los Angeles courtroom as the giant in American manufacturing of medical devices, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods – Johnson & Johnson – was ordered to pay that award “to a woman who claimed in lawsuit that the talc in its iconic baby powder causes ovarian cancer when applied regularly for feminine hygiene,” according to U.S. News. According to an excerpt from her lawsuit, Eva Echeverria, a 63-year-old from California, “developed ovarian cancer as a ‘proximate result of the unreasonably dangerous and defective nature of talcum powder.’” Her lawsuit claimed that the corporate giant neglected to do enough to warn consumers about the potential dangers concerning the risk of regularly applying the talcum powder in Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based products, specifically the J & J baby powder.
Following today’s judgement, Echeverria’s attorney – Mark Robinson – remarked that he hoped that the court’s decision would be enough to sway J & J to include better consumer warnings on its products. CBS News quoted Robinson as saying, “Mrs. Echeverria is dying from this ovarian cancer and she said to me all she wanted to do was to help the other women throughout the whole country who have ovarian cancer for using Johnson & Johnson for 20 and 30 years. She really didn’t want sympathy. She just wanted to get a message out to help these other women.”
Johnson & Johnson has already forked over millions in damages in similar previous lawsuits; and there are several more court cases against the company coming down the legal pike. Five of the prior court cases took place in Missouri where Johnson & Johnson and a talcum powder supplier were ordered to pay $307 million in verdicts in four of the cases, according to Yahoo! News. Many similar court cases are still awaiting trial in Missouri.
Leading up to today’s verdict, the largest settlement levied against J & J was $110 million. That verdict was awarded to a woman from Virginia when a jury in St. Louis felt that her claims of her ovarian cancer diagnosis was indeed due to her 40 years’ worth use of J & J’s talcum-based products. Following today’s judgment, a spokesperson for Johnson & Johnson said that although her company sympathizes with the ovarian cancer plight of the plaintiffs, that J & J products are safe to use and that the company would be would be appealing today’s verdict.
Written by: Ace News Today Staff
