The latest talcum powder case has resulted in a New Jersey couple being awarded $37 million after one of them charged he got mesothelioma after using the product for more than 30 years.
Stephen Lanzo said he used Shower to Shower and Baby Powder, made by Johnson & Johnson, for more than three decades and charged that it caused the cancer that damages the lining of the lungs, CNN reported.
Lanzo was awarded $30 million in compensatory damages on Thursday while his wife was given $7 million. The jury was to start to consider punitive damages next Tuesday.
CNN said deposits of talc are often found near deposits of the minerals that constitute asbestos, and studies have shown the risk of cross-contamination during mining, the case was one of several asbestos-related cases involving Johnson & Johnson that are making their way through the courts.
Reuters reported last November that the company won a California jury trial where a woman charged she developed mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos through Johnson & Johnson's Baby Powder.
Last October, the Missouri Eastern District appeals court threw out a $72 million jury verdict won by a now deceased St. Louis woman, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Jacqueline Fox, who died four months before the start of her trial, won the jury verdict in February 2016, claiming that her longtime use of baby powder and other Johnson & Johnson products contributed to ovarian cancer.
In the New Jersey case, though, the jury agreed that Johnson & Johnson would carry 70 percent of the liability for Lanzo's cancer while Imerys Talc, a supplier of the mineral, was 30 percent liable, CNN said.
Lanzo's attorneys argued that Johnson & Johnson has held back information from its customers about the health risks of asbestos in its talc products since the 1960s, per CNN. The company, though, said its extensive testing made sure its products were not contaminated.
"While we are disappointed with this decision, the jury has further deliberations to conduct in this trial and we will reserve additional comment until the case is fully completed," Carol Goodrich, a spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson, told CNN.
Imerys representative Gwen Myers told Courtroom View Network that it will appeal the jury's decision, arguing that studies of miners who were exposed to talc on a daily basis did not display any link between the mineral and mesothelioma.
"Imerys follows all (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) and other regulatory guidelines and utilizes rigorous testing to ensure that our talc meets the highest quality standards, and we are just as confident in the safety of our products as ever," Myers told CVN.
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