A Los Angeles jury ruled in favor of Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit alleging its talc products caused ovarian cancer. The jury found the company not negligent, a decision that contrasts with some previous verdicts in similar cases.
This verdict offers a potential reprieve for Johnson & Johnson in its ongoing legal battle over talc-based products, though the company still faces tens of thousands of similar lawsuits.
A Los Angeles jury has ruled in favor of Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit brought by the families of three women who alleged that the company's talc products caused ovarian cancer. The jury found that J&J was not negligent in selling its cosmetic talc products. The families of Mary Owens, Bonnie Tienken, and Geneva Williams filed the suit, as each woman died of ovarian cancer after using talc-based baby powder. Johnson & Johnson's vice president of litigation, Erik Haas, stated that the case was based on 'junk science.' Conversely, lawyer Ari Friedman, who represented one of the plaintiffs, described the verdict as 'disappointing.' Johnson & Johnson stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020, switching to a cornstarch-based product. The company has settled the majority of cases alleging its products caused mesothelioma, a rare cancer associated with asbestos, and nearly all remaining cases allege that talc products cause ovarian cancer. Over 67,000 plaintiffs have sued J&J over allegations that its baby powder and other talc products cause ovarian cancer. J&J has achieved outright wins in some cases, including an Oklahoma trial the previous week, but has also faced large verdicts awarded to plaintiffs in other instances.
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