Johnson & Johnson products contributed to ovarian cancer of a woman, a St. Louis Circuit Court jury decided and ordered the health care conglomerate to pay $72 million in damages, reported the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Jacqueline Fox, who died last fall after being diagnosed with cancer 2 ½ years ago, was awarded $10 million in actual damages and $62 million in punitive damages. Fox's son, Marvin Salter, became the plaintiff after his mother, a Birmingham, Alabama, native, died at 62.
Fox's attorney, Jim Onder, said the money will go toward to the Missouri Crime Victim Compensation Fund, said the Post-Dispatch. Onder said he expects the company will appeal.
Johnson & Johnson is contemplating its next move in the case, company spokeswoman Carol Goodrich said, according to the
St. Louis Business Journal. She said Monday's decision "goes against decades of sound science proving the safety of talc as a cosmetic ingredient in multiple products."
Reuters said Johnson & Johnson faced charges that it failed for years to adequately warn customers that its talc products could cause cancer. Fox's court victory was the first time a U.S. jury had awarded damages in such claims.
Fox used Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for feminine hygiene for more than 35 years before she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, said Reuters. The company has about 1,000 cases filed against it in Missouri and some 200 more in New Jersey.
"I was speechless when we heard the initial number," Salter, 46, a mortgage banker, told the Post-Dispatch about the verdict. "To think, how groundbreaking this could be for so many other women."
Salter said he could not comprehend that Johnson & Johnson allegedly hid products' link to cancer, noted the Post-Dispatch.
"My reaction was disbelief," said Salter. "How can a company have known about this relationship between talc and ovarian cancer since the 1970s and not disclosed it?"
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