$4.69B Verdict Awarded to Additional Talcum Powder Cancer Victims

By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on July 20th, 2018

The latest jury verdict has been announced – this time for $4.69 billion – for 22 more women who have suffered from ovarian cancer after being long-time users of baby powder from Johnson & Johnson.

The verdict was reached in St. Louis, Mo., after a 12-person jury heard five weeks of testimony about the use of the talc-based products by the victims, according to a July 12 story by Reuters. The victims alleged that Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder and other J&J powder products contained asbestos, which caused them to develop their ovarian cancers later in their lives.

The victims were awarded $550 million in compensatory damages and $4.14 billion in punitive damages by the jury.

“The women and their families said decades-long use of Baby Powder and other cosmetic talc products caused their diseases,” the story reported. “They allege the company knew its talc was contaminated with asbestos since at least the 1970s but failed to warn consumers about the risks.”

Similar cases have returned verdicts for plaintiffs of $72 million and $55 million, though at least one verdict has also been overturned.

For ovarian cancer victims who have used the products and suffered their consequences, these verdicts provide some hope for collecting damages for the devastating effects of the seemingly harmless substances as part of their daily health care regimens.

A Washington Post story from 2016 reported that at one of the earlier trials that internal Johnson & Johnson corporate memos were seen by some jurors as showing that the company knew the potential dangers of the products but didn’t advise consumers or regulators or add warnings labels to the products, according to an earlier MyPhillyLawyer blog post.

Johnson & Johnson has said it will appeal the latest $4.69 billion jury verdict, according to Reuters. The company called the latest trial and the jury’s ruling “fundamentally unfair.”

Legal cases like this one occur around the nation every day and are examples of similar kinds of cases that MyPhillyLawyer attorneys regularly work on tirelessly for our own clients. Often, we are not able to discuss the cases we are actively working on due to confidentiality requirements, so we discuss other relevant cases in the news such as this one to illustrate the legal situations people find themselves in every day.

We here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in a medical malpractice case, birth injury or any kind of vehicle crash anywhere in the United States.

These kinds of cases are a somber reminder that patients and their families must be vigilant about the medical care they receive so they know what is being done for a patient’s care every step of the way. But at the same time, patients and families aren’t doctors and they can’t know every question to ask. That’s where skilled, expert, compassionate and thorough legal representation is needed by patients and their families who have been harmed by medical malpractice and errors or omissions during their treatment.

We pledge to make sure that you and your family get the dogged and experienced legal representation that you deserve and expect from a professional legal team which works hard to uncover every fact to bolster your case and maximize your damage award.

We represent the families of victims who die in such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Call MyPhillyLawyer at 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-(866) 352-4572 anytime and our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

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Listen to Court Radio every Sunday at 7 a.m. with me, attorney Dean Weitzman of MyPhillyLawyer, on Philadelphia’s Old School 100.3 WRNB, Boom 103.9 or on Praise 107.9 WPPZ FM. Listen to Court Radio online or on the radio every week for the latest on legal topics and to get answers to your legal questions. In addition to addressing the topical issues of the day, we’ll answer caller questions on a wide range of legal issues.