Baby Powder Proven To Cause Cancer
Johnson & Johnson has been order by a jury in Missouri to pay $72 million in damages to the family of a woman who died from ovarian cancer linked to the company’s talcum Baby Powder and Shower to Shower.
Announced Monday night, jurors in a St. Louis circuit court awarded the family of Jacqueline Fox $10 Million in damages and $62 million in punitive damages according to the family’s lawyers.
Johnson & Johnson faces hundreds of lawsuits like this one for failing to warn consumers of the risks for years in an effort to boost sales.
Fox, from Birmingham, Alabama, said she used Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for feminine hygiene for 35 years before she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer three years ago. She died in December at age 62.
Jurors found the company liable for fraud, negligence and conspiracy. Deliberations lasted a few hours, but were ultimately in the family’s favor.
According to the family’s lawyer, Jere Beasley, the company “knew as far back as the 1980s of the risk,” and yet resorted to “lying to the public, lying to the regulatory agencies.”
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A Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman had this to say: “We have no higher responsibility than the health and safety of consumers, and we are disappointed with the outcome of the trial. We sympathize with the plaintiff’s family but firmly believe the safety of cosmetic talc is supported by decades of scientific evidence.”
A federal jury in Sioux Falls, South Dakote found plaintiff Deane Berg’s use of Johnson & Johnson baby power was a factor in her development of ovarian cancer, but no damages were rewarded.
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