Kathmandu – A Los Angeles jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay a staggering $966 million to the family of a woman who died from mesothelioma, a rare cancer linked to asbestos exposure.
The woman, May Moore, died in 2021 at the age of 88. Her family claimed she developed cancer after using Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder daily for nearly 80 years. The jury agreed, ruling that the company’s product once a household staple was responsible for her illness.
The verdict includes $16 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages. The court found that the powder Moore used was contaminated with asbestos, a known carcinogen, and that J&J failed to warn consumers about the risk.
“This is justice for our mother and for countless others,” the family said in a statement. “She trusted a product that was marketed as safe for decades.”
Johnson & Johnson, which sold its Shower-to-Shower powder line to Valeant Pharmaceuticals in 2012, has faced over 70,000 lawsuits globally related to alleged cancer risks from its talc products. The company has already spent over $3 billion in legal defense and continues to deny any wrongdoing.
J&J’s chief legal officer, Erik Haas, called the ruling “inconsistent” with the company’s previous legal victories and said they plan to appeal immediately.
In 2023, J&J pulled its talc-based powders from global markets. The company has also attempted to resolve lawsuits through bankruptcy court, but its attempts have failed three times.
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