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The US pharmaceutical group Johnson & Johnson (J & J) was ordered Thursday to pay $ 4.69 billion in damages in a lawsuit filed by 22 women and their families, who were accused of selling talcum powder by the drug group. to have caused the cancers of which they were victims. This is a new twist in this case for which several thousand lawsuits have been filed against J & J.
According to the lawyer representing the victims, Mark Lanier, a jury composed of six men and six women a court in St. Louis, Missouri decided to sentence the drug group after six weeks of trial and eight hours of deliberations. The damage consists of $ 550 million in compensatory damages and more than $ 4.1 billion in punitive damages. The complainants baderted that the use of talc for their personal hygiene caused ovarian cancer.
"For more than 40 years, Johnson & Johnson has concealed evidence of asbestos in its products," Lanier said in a statement. "We hope this verdict will draw the attention of J & J's Board of Directors and encourage them to better inform the medical community and the public of the link between asbestos, talc, and ovarian cancer," he said. he continued, asking the pharmaceutical group to withdraw the products concerned from the market.
In a statement, J & J said it was "deeply disappointed by the verdict."
This "results from an unfair process that saw the plaintiffs represent a group of 22 women, most of whom do not have a Missouri connection but who were all together in one case and all claiming that they have developed ovarian cancer, "said the group. "The verdict, which awarded the same amount of damages to each of the complainants regardless of their individual case and legal differences, reflects the fact that the evidence presented in this case could not withstand the prejudices of this kind of instruction. "
J & J reiterated that the talc it markets does not contain asbestos and does not cause ovarian cancer, stating its intention to use "all available appeal procedures". [19659002] A number of lawsuits have already been held for the same reasons, and a Los Angeles, California, Court of Appeal ruled last October in favor of J & J, dismissing $ 417 million in damages and The complainant's arguments were insufficient and vague.
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