Baby Powder Mesothelioma Lawsuit Ends in $42.6M Verdict for Massachusetts Family

Man never worked with asbestos, yet still developed mesothelioma after exposure to the toxic fiber in Baby Powder products, family claimed at trial.

A Massachusetts jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $42.6 million to the family of a man who developed mesothelioma, finding that the deadly form of cancer was caused by using Johnson’s Baby Powder products for years that were contaminated with asbestos.

The lawsuit was filed by Paul Lovell and his wife, Kathryn, on behalf of themselves and their four children. The family claims that Paul Lovell’s malignant pleural mesothelioma diagnosis was caused by the presence of asbestos contaminants in Johnson & Johnson’s talc products.

It is one of tens of thousands of Baby Powder lawsuits and Shower-to-Shower lawsuits against the manufacturer, each raising similar allegations that the company’s talc-based products were contaminated with asbestos, increasing the risk of mesothelioma, ovarian cancer and other forms of cancer. Even if the talc is asbestos free, studies have suggested that talc particles can migrate into the body, particularly when used on the genitals, and may increase the risk of ovarian cancer in women.

Asbestos exposure can cause a number of serious health conditions, including lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, which typically takes decades after exposure to asbestos before the cancer is diagnosed, by which time it is typically at a very advanced and difficult to treat stage, leading to a short life-expectancy.

Following a two-week trial, a Boston jury issued a verdict awarding the Lovells $42.6 million this week, determining that Johnson & Johnson was liable for Lovell’s injuries.

Lovell indicates he was a life-long Baby Powder user and never worked in an environment that involved asbestos contamination. Mesothelioma diagnoses are almost entirely linked to asbestos exposure.

Johnson & Johnson has said it plans to appeal the verdict and intends to fight more than 60,000 similar claims filed in federal and state courts nationwide after federal judges across the country repeatedly rejected the company’s attempts to solve the litigation through three failed bankruptcy attempts.

Talcum Powder Lawsuits

All talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits filed in federal court have been centralized in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey since 2016, where pretrial proceedings are being undertaken by U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp.

The company has already resolved 95% of claims alleging talcum powder exposure led to cases of mesothelioma. The remaining cases are primarily gynecological cancer claims, mainly dealing with cases of ovarian cancer. 

Since the litigation emerged, Johnson & Johnson has pledged to remove talc from its Baby Powder products, although the company has denied that use of the talc-based products poses health risks.

Judge Shipp is expected to schedule a series of bellwether early test trials to gauge how juries will interpret evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation. He hopes that the bellwether trials will help the parties reach a talcum powder settlement agreement, avoiding thousands of expensive and time-consuming individual trials.

If no agreement is reached following the bellwether process, the court may begin remanding thousands of individual cases to U.S. District Courts nationwide for individual trials over the next few years.