J & J and Colgate sentenced to pay nearly $ 10 million in the talc business in California

A California jury ruled on Wednesday in favor of a plaintiff who blamed her cancer for talc products made by Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive.

The plaintiff Patricia Schmitz will be fined $ 4.8 million in damages by each company, said J & J. Schmitz said that she had developed mesothelioma after using both baby powder for J & J and Colgate's Cashmere Bouquet. She did not receive punitive damages.

The decision was another setback for J & J. The consumer products company, which makes everything from Tylenol lotions to Aveeno lotions, faces more than 13,000 talc-related lawsuits. Just two weeks ago, J & J was ordered to pay $ 300 million in punitive damages to a woman in New York who attributed the cancer to her talc products. The same day, jurors in a similar case in South Carolina released the company from all liability.

J & J denies allegations that its talc could cause cancer. Numerous studies and tests by regulators around the world have shown that its talc is safe and asbestos-free.

"We will continue the call because Johnson's Baby Powder contains no asbestos or cancer, as evidenced by decades of independent clinical evidence," said a spokeswoman for J & J in a statement. "There were serious procedural and evidentiary errors in the course of the proceedings that required us to repeatedly go to the annulment of the annulment lawsuit and we believe that there are strong grounds for appeal . "

A Colgate spokesman said that "the trial suffered from numerous errors of law and important evidence which, in our opinion, seriously damaged the defense". The person did not say if the company would appeal.

Last summer, J & J revived its flagship baby product line of the same name to reverse the decline of the company's baby care unit. The brand, 124 years old, had no longer trusted her for decades but was no longer in contact with consumers, especially millennials, who had opted for natural products brands at the forefront of fashion .

– CNBC's Angelica LaVito contributed to this report.