Record $966 Million Verdict Against Johnson & Johnson in Baby Powder Cancer Lawsuit

Johnson & Johnson has consistently maintained that their talc products do not cause cancer.

A California jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $966 million to the family of a deceased woman who attributed her cancer to lifelong use of the company's baby powder. This represents the largest verdict for an individual user in the 15-year litigation history surrounding the product.

The Los Angeles state court jury determined that J&J was responsible for Mae Moore's mesothelioma, a cancer associated with asbestos exposure. The jury awarded $16 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages. Moore passed away in 2021 at 88 years of age. The substantial award will go to her family, who claimed that J&J concealed the health risks associated with their iconic powder product.

Erik Haas, Worldwide Vice President of Litigation at J&J, stated, "We will immediately appeal this egregious and unconstitutional verdict that is directly at odds - in result and amount - with the vast majority of other talc cases wherein the company has prevailed."

This verdict comes as Johnson & Johnson prepares for numerous jury trials regarding its talc-based baby powder, which was withdrawn from the global market in 2023. The company has made three unsuccessful attempts to use bankruptcy courts to force a settlement of tens of thousands of pending cases.

"It took this family five years to get their day in court and we're pleased the jury concluded J&J should be held accountable," said Jessica Dean, the Texas-based attorney representing Moore's family.

Although J&J has already spent over $3 billion settling lawsuits alleging asbestos in its baby powder caused harm to users, the company still faces more than 70,000 claims that the product caused mesothelioma and ovarian cancers. Many of these cases have been consolidated before a federal judge in New Jersey for pre-trial information exchanges.

Nearly a dozen juries have found J&J and its Kenvue spinoff liable for cancer in baby powder users, resulting in billions of dollars in damage awards. Many of these awards were subsequently reduced or overturned on appeal.

Johnson & Johnson has firmly maintained that talc does not cause cancer and that their product never contained asbestos. The company also asserts that it has marketed its baby powder appropriately for more than a century.

Plaintiffs have cited internal J&J documents that they claim demonstrate the company's knowledge of asbestos presence in its talc dating back to at least the early 1970s.

The largest trial verdict against J&J was a $4.7 billion jury award in 2018 to 20 women in Missouri state court. An appeals court reduced this verdict to $2.1 billion, with J&J ultimately paying $2.5 billion including interest.

According to Bloomberg Intelligence's Holly Froum, Moore's award will likely be reduced. US Supreme Court guidelines indicate that punitive damage awards should not exceed 10 times the compensatory awards to avoid being considered excessive.

Dean stated that Moore used J&J's baby powder, along with its Shower-to-Shower powder, for approximately 80 years. Jurors determined that J&J intentionally deceived Moore by failing to clearly communicate the products' cancer risks, according to court filings. J&J sold Shower-to-Shower to Valeant Pharmaceuticals in 2012 for approximately $150 million.

The case is Moore v. J&J, JCCP 4674, 21STCV055134, California Superior Court (Los Angeles).