Jury Awards $966M in Baby Powder Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Mesothelioma Diagnosis

Verdict is the largest talcum powder mesothelioma lawsuit award to date, which Johnson & Johnson says it intends to appeal.

A California jury concluded this week that Johnson & Johnson should pay nearly a billion dollars in compensatory and punitive damages to the family of a woman who died of mesothelioma that was allegedly caused by the presence of asbestos in Baby Powder.

The family of Mae Moore filed the lawsuit following her death from mesothelioma in 2021, claiming that she used Johnson’s Baby Powder regularly since the 1930s, without ever being warned that it may contain toxic asbestos particles.

Asbestos exposure, even at low levels, is known to cause a number of serious and often life-threatening health conditions, including lung cancer and mesothelioma. Due to these risks, the use of asbestos-containing products has been largely banned worldwide in recent decades. However, evidence has emerged over the past few years that suggests bottles of Johnson’s Baby Powder are often contaminated with asbestos from the raw talc ingredients.

One of the most devastating illnesses associated with asbestos is mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer that develops in the lining of the lungs or abdomen. Uniquely, mesothelioma is only known to be caused by exposure to asbestos particles. The disease is particularly dangerous because of its long latency period, with symptoms often not appearing until decades after exposure, by which time the cancer is typically at an advanced stage with limited treatment options.

The Moore family’s lawsuit is just one of thousands of Baby Powder lawsuits and Shower-to-Shower lawsuits now being pursued in federal and state courts nationwide, each alleging that the manufacturer failed to prevent asbestos contamination of its products and failed to warn consumers about the potential cancer risks they may face.

While Johnson & Johnson has maintained that their products are safe, the company issued a massive Baby Powder recall in October 2019, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) detected trace amounts of chrysotile asbestos in bottles.

Studies have also found that the talc ingredients contained in Johnson’s Baby Powder may cause serious health risks for women who regularly apply the product around their genitals, where it may migrate into the body and increase the risk of ovarian cancer as well.

Baby Powder Mesothelioma Verdict

On Monday, following a five-week trial and two days of deliberations, a jury in Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled that Johnson & Johnson was liable for Moore’s mesothelioma diagnosis and death.

The jury determined that the manufacturer was negligent in failing to warn Moore and other consumers about the potential health risks posed by asbestos in Johnson’s Baby Powder. They also found that the company recklessly endangered the public by failing to provide these warnings.

The verdict form (PDF) indicates the jury awarded the family $15 million in compensatory damages, and a record-breaking $950 million in punitive damages. It is reportedly the largest mesothelioma talc lawsuit verdict to date.

Johnson & Johnson issued a press release after the verdict, calling it unconstitutional and indicating that the company plans to appeal. Despite the 2019 recall that actually found asbestos in Baby Powder, the company continues to cling to the argument that Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe and does not contain asbestos.

Talcum Powder Ovarian Cancer Lawsuits

Most of the mesothelioma claims against Johnson & Johnson have been settled or otherwise resolved, yet that still leaves about 90,000 talcum powder lawsuits pending in the U.S., primarily involving women who developed ovarian cancer injuries.

A California state court judge is moving ahead with plans for three separate talcum powder bellwether trials in the coming months focused on ovarian cancer injuries, to help the parties gauge how juries may respond to evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout thousands of other claims.

The first of the three trials will begin on November 3 and is expected to last about four weeks. It will immediately be followed by two other similar trials.

Meanwhile, 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 first federal bellwether trial is expected to begin late this year or early next year, involving a talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuit brought by Carter Judkins, who was diagnosed in December 2016, after using Johnson’s Baby Powder as part of her daily routine for more than 30 years.

There are also other trials scheduled for next year in New Jersey and Pennsylvania state courts.

Although the outcomes of these bellwether trials will not be binding on other plaintiffs, they will be closely watched by lawyers involved in the litigation. If the parties still fail to reach a resolution after the bellwether trials, dozens of individual cases may begin moving forward simultaneously in different courts in the coming years.

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