Johnson & Johnson are ordered to pay $ 417 million to a woman who developed Cancer due to Talcum Powder
Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest healthcare and personal care products firm, faces its biggest legal felony so far: it will have to pay $ 417 million to a woman who developed ovarian cancer for using her baby powder in Their intimate hygiene.
A Los Angeles jury in California found that the company did not adequately warn of the dangers of contracting the disease when it used its talc products, something it was supposed to have.
The plaintiff, Eva Echeverria, a 63-year-old Californian, said she began using Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder when she was 11. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007 and, according to her lawyer, Mark Robinson, her diagnosis is terminal And is hospitalized.
“She is dying because of this ovarian cancer and has told me that all she wants is to help other women in the country who have cancer for having used [Johnson’s] talon products for 20 and 30 years, “Robinson said.
“He does not want sympathies, just to spread a message to help all those women.”
A company spokeswoman, Carol Goodrich, said in a statement that the company would appeal the case “because we are guided by science .”
Cancer Lawsuits against Johnson and Johnson in the U.S
Thousands of women have filed lawsuits against the pharmaceutical giant and say they have contracted cancer from the use of products the company recommends for their intimate hygiene.
Johnson & Johnson has lost four of five cases in Missouri, which have resulted in fines totaling more than $ 300 million.
The company had to pay $ 110.5 million in May this year to a Virginia woman who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012, and lost three other similar cases for which it was fined $ 72, $ 70.1 And the US $ 55 million, respectively (in total, US $ 307.6 million).
Also, J&J was sentenced in February 2016 to pay $ 72 million for the case of J Jackie Fox, a woman from Alabama (United States), who died of ovarian cancer after using the brand’s talcum powder for decades.
However, J&J won a lawsuit against a Tennessee (United States) woman with ovarian and uterine cancer who also blamed her illness on the use of the product, and two other cases in New Jersey were dismissed for lack of evidence.
Some 1,200 people have filed similar lawsuits throughout the country.
In defense, Johnson & Johnson cites investigations by the US Food and Drug Administration and the National Cancer Institute in the United States to support that risks have never been proven.
What are the Risks Associated with Cosmetic Talcum Powders ?
Talc mineral in its natural form contains ASBESTOS which causes cancer. However, asbestos-free talc has been used in baby powder and other cosmetic products since the 1970s. But studies of this type of talc have conflicting results. Johnson and Johnson have faced multiple similar lawsuits which raise eyebrows over the safety of these products launched by Johnson and Johnson as being “Safe for Baby Skin”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKeTNlfU2HM
Some have linked the product to the risk of developing cancer, but research may be skewed because it is often based on the amount of talc that people remember to have used over the years.
Other studies, however, say there is no risk of getting cancer. And there does not seem to be a response that indicates a “dose-effect relationship,” as it does with other known carcinogens, such as tobacco (the more you smoke, the greater the risk of cancer).
