J&J must pay $19m to man who says its talc caused his cancer, jury finds

Johnson & Johnson must pay US$15 million (S$19.6 million) to a Connecticut man who alleges that he developed mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, as a result of using the company's talc powder for decades, a jury found on Tuesday (Oct 15).

Plaintiff Evan Plotkin sued the company in 2021 soon after his diagnosis, saying he was sickened by inhaling J&J's baby powder.

The jury in Fairfield County, Connecticut Superior Court also found that the company should pay additional punitive damages, which will be determined later by the judge overseeing the case.

"Evan Plotkin and his trial team are thrilled that a jury once again decided to hold Johnson & Johnson accountable for their marketing and sale of a baby powder product that they knew contained asbestos," Ben Braly, a lawyer for Plotkin, said in an email.

Erik Haas, J&J's worldwide vice president of litigation, said in a statement that the company would appeal "erroneous" rulings by the trial judge that kept the jury from hearing critical facts about the case.

"Those facts show that the verdict is irreconcilable with the decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming talc is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer," Haas said.

Tuesday's verdict comes as J&J seeks to resolve claims by more than 62,000 people who say that they got ovarian and other gynaecological cancers from talc through a nearly US$9 billion settlement in bankruptcy.

The bankruptcy deal, which faces legal challenges from some plaintiffs' lawyers, has put the lawsuits over gynaecological cancers on hold, but does not affect the much smaller number of mesothelioma claims like Plotkin's. The company has previously settled some of those claims but has not proposed a nationwide settlement.

Plaintiffs in all of the lawsuits say that J&J's talc products, like its once iconic baby powder, were tainted with asbestos, a carcinogen known to cause mesothelioma and other cancers.

J&J withdrew its talc-based powder products from the US market in 2020.

Reuters watched the verdict announcement through Courtroom View Network.

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