A jury awarded $ 4.69 billion to women accusing Johnson & Johnson of contributing to their ovarian cancer

On Thursday, July 12, a jury in St. Louis, Missouri, awarded $ 4.69 billion to 22 women who had filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson. The plaintiffs claimed that the brand's talcum powder had contributed to each of their reports on ovarian cancer CNN . According to the BBC six of the 22 women involved in the St. Louis case died of ovarian cancer. The trial, which lasted about six weeks, included testimony of scientific experts, Johnson & Johnson employees, cancer survivors, and family and friends of those who have died.

a statement regarding the verdict, noting that they plan to appeal. "All the verdicts pronounced against Johnson & Johnson in this court have been overturned and the multiple errors present in this trial were more serious than those of the previous trials which were annulled," reads the statement. communicated. In 2017, a California jury awarded a woman $ 417 million after suing Johnson & Johnson with the same allegations. As the BBC noted, this verdict was later quashed by a judge.

In another statement, Mark Lanier, the lawyer representing the 22 women in the St. Louis case, said : "We hope that the verdict will hold back". J & J's board attention and will lead to better inform the medical community and the public about the link between asbestos, talc and ovarian cancer.The company should remove talc market before causing more anxiety. J & J sells the same powders in a wonderfully safe variety of corn starch If J & J insists on continuing to sell talc, they should report it with a serious warning.

CNN reports that possible link between talc and ovarian cancer began to cause concern among scientists in the 1970s. There was conflicting evidence over the years, with some studies citing a link between the two, and others saying no correlation . American Cancer Society notes that "there is an increased risk, the overall increase may be very low," adding that because talc is used in many products, additional research is needed in order to determine the level of danger for consumers. "Until more information is available, people who are anxious to use talc may want to avoid or limit their use of consumer products that may be harmful. contain. "

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