On Monday, the Los Angeles Superior Court jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to compensate USD 417 million to a lady who claimed that after using the Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based products such as Baby Powder for feminine hygiene, she developed ovarian cancer.
The California jury's verdict in favor of local resident Eva Echeverria was the biggest yet in lawsuits alleging Johnson & Johnson failed to appropriately warn customers regarding its talc-based products might elevate cancer risks.
Mark Robinson, who is Eva Echeverria’s lawyer, said in a statement that they are grateful for the verdict given by the jury on this matter and also that his client, Eva Echeverria could have her day in the courtroom.
The judgment included USD 347 million in penal damages and USD 70 million in compensatory damages. It was a key hitch for Johnson & Johnson. The company is already facing around 4800 analogous claims all over the country and has been knocked with around USD 300 million for Missouri jury's verdict.
Following the verdict, Johnson & Johnson sources said that they are guided by the science, which affirms the safety of Johnson's Baby Powder and hence they will appeal Monday’s verdict.
Eva Echeverria's court case was the foremost to go to trial out of hundreds of California talc-based products cases.
The 63-year-old Eva Echeverria claimed that after using Johnson & Johnson's talc-based products for decades, she developed fatal ovarian cancer. Her attorneys argued that Johnson & Johnson promoted its products for feminine use even though recognizing that studies connecting ovarian cancer to venereal talc use.
Johnson & Johnson's lawyers forestalled that federal agencies and research studies have not established that talc products cause’ cancer.
The trial run follows 5 previous ones in the court of Missouri state, where several cases are waiting for the verdict.
Along with a talc supplier, Johnson & Johnson has lost 4 of those cases and has been strike with USD 307 million in judgments. Before Monday’s verdict, the biggest claim was for USD 110 million.
The lawsuits at Missouri state court that have mostly been fetched by out-of-state prosecutors have confronted legislative questions following the United States’ Supreme Court published a verdict in June that individual damage lawsuits can be registered.
In a verdict of a case linking Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, the United States’ Supreme Court said that state courts cannot pay attention to claims against companies that are not established in the state when the suspected injuries did not arise.
The judgment encouraged a St. Louis judge, at New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson's arguments, to announce a trial in the talc case previously in progress. The judge has however left the door unlocked for the complainants to fight as they still have authority based on a Missouri-based bottle manufacturer Johnson & Johnson employed to package its products.