Firm says it will appeal an Oct. 27 jury finding in Missouri’s 22nd Circuit Court, which awarded nearly $71m to a woman claiming to have developed ovarian cancer as a result of decades-long use of Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products for feminine hygiene purposes. According to a same-day blog post from Courtroom View Network, which webcast the trial “gavel-to-gavel,” J&J has been ordered to pay plaintiff Deborah Giannecchini $67.5m in punitive damages and $2.57m in compensatory damages in the third costly verdict against the firm in the St. Louis court this year. This time, J&J’s talc supplier Imerys Talc America also was found partially responsible, which puts it on the hook for covering 10% of the compensatory damages and $2.5m of the total punitive award, the CVN post notes. J&J maintains the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder, telling CVN that it is “guided by the science” in its plan to appeal.
Thousands more suits have been filed against the firm, primarily in Missouri and New Jersey courts. The latter have proven...
