Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson is due to pay $ 2.1 billion in damages to women who claim that the company’s baby powder contains carcinogenic asbestos.
This development occurred after the US Supreme Court did not change the verdict issued in the course of a nearly ten-year dispute over the company’s well-known product.
In particular, the Supreme Court today refused to consider J&J’s objection to a 2018 St. Louis jury finding that talcum powder contributed to ovarian cancer in 22 women. Of these, nine died.
Preparing to dismiss the appeal, J&J announced in February that it had committed approximately $ 4 billion to cover the St. Louis decision. The jury in the case awarded each woman $ 25 million in compensation. The jury then added more than $ 4 billion in monetary compensation, making it the sixth-highest compensation in US legal history.
The Missouri Court of Appeals cut compensation by more than half last year. It is noted that the initial verdict caused a significant drop in J&J shares.
“Today, justice has been done,” said Mark Lanier, the plaintiffs’ attorney.
According to Bloomberg, the company is still facing more than 25,000 lawsuits in which baby powder causes cancer. The pharmaceutical company itself wrote to the court that it has more than 19,000 such cases before it, which could be influenced by the outcome of this dispute.
It is noted that J&J took the goods off the shelves of the United States and Canada last year. Asbestos, often found in talc mines, is a recognized carcinogen.
According to Bloomberg, Reuters.
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