This
undated
photo
provided
by
Robinson
Calcagnie,
Inc.,
shows
Eva
Echevarria.
A Los
Angeles
jury on
Monday,
Aug. 21,
2017
ordered
Johnson
&
Johnson
to pay a
record
$417
million
to
Echevarria,
a
hospitalized
woman
who
claimed
in a
lawsuit
that the
talc in
the
company's
iconic
baby
powder
causes
ovarian
cancer
when
applied
regularly
for
feminine
hygiene.
The
verdict
in the
lawsuit
brought
marks
the
largest
sum
awarded
in a
series
of
talcum
powder
lawsuit
verdicts
against
Johnson
&
Johnson
in
courts
around
the U.S.
(Robinson
Calcagnie,
Inc. via
AP)
Record
$417M
award in
lawsuit
linking
baby
powder
to
cancer
By
MICHAEL
BALSAMO
ap.org
LOS
ANGELES
- A Los
Angeles
jury on
Monday
ordered
Johnson
&
Johnson
to pay a
record
$417
million
to a
hospitalized
woman
who
claimed
in a
lawsuit
that the
talc in
the
company's
iconic
baby
powder
causes
ovarian
cancer
when
applied
regularly
for
feminine
hygiene.
The
verdict
in the
lawsuit
brought
by the
California
woman,
Eva
Echeverria,
marks
the
largest
sum
awarded
in a
series
of
talcum
powder
lawsuit
verdicts
against
Johnson
&
Johnson
in
courts
around
the U.S.
Echeverria
alleged
Johnson
&
Johnson
failed
to
adequately
warn
consumers
about
talcum
powder's
potential
cancer
risks.
She used
the
company's
baby
powder
on a
daily
basis
beginning
in the
1950s
until
2016 and
was
diagnosed
with
ovarian
cancer
in 2007,
according
to court
papers.
Echeverria
developed
ovarian
cancer
as a
"proximate
result
of the
unreasonably
dangerous
and
defective
nature
of
talcum
powder,"
she said
in her
lawsuit.
Echeverria's
attorney,
Mark
Robinson,
said his
client
is
undergoing
cancer
treatment
while
hospitalized
and told
him she
hoped
the
verdict
would
lead
Johnson
&
Johnson
to put
additional
warnings
on its
products.
"Mrs.
Echeverria
is dying
from
this
ovarian
cancer
and she
said to
me all
she
wanted
to do
was to
help the
other
women
throughout
the
whole
country
who have
ovarian
cancer
for
using
Johnson
&
Johnson
for 20
and 30
years,"
Robinson
said.
"She
really
didn't
want
sympathy,"
he
added.
"She
just
wanted
to get a
message
out to
help
these
other
women."
The
jury's
award
included
$68
million
in
compensatory
damages
and $340
million
in
punitive
damages,
Robinson
said.
The
evidence
in the
case
included
internal
documents
from
several
decades
that
"showed
the jury
that
Johnson
&
Johnson
knew
about
the
risks of
talc and
ovarian
cancer,"
Robinson
said.
"Johnson
&
Johnson
had many
warning
bells
over a
30 year
period
but
failed
to warn
the
women
who were
buying
its
product,"
he said.
Johnson
&
Johnson
spokeswoman
Carol
Goodrich
said in
a
statement
that the
company
will
appeal
the
jury's
decision.
She says
while
the
company
sympathizes
with
women
suffering
from
ovarian
cancer
that
scientific
evidence
supports
the
safety
of
Johnson's
baby
powder.
The
verdict
came
after a
St.
Louis,
Missouri
jury in
May
awarded
$110.5
million
to a
Virginia
woman
who was
diagnosed
with
ovarian
cancer
in 2012.
She had
blamed
her
illness
on her
use of
the
company's
talcum
powder-containing
products
for more
than 40
years.
Besides
that
case,
three
other
trials
in St.
Louis
had
similar
outcomes
last
year -
with
juries
awarding
damages
of $72
million,
$70.1
million
and $55
million,
for a
combined
total of
$307.6
million.
Another
St.
Louis
jury in
March
rejected
the
claims
of a
Tennessee
woman
with
ovarian
and
uterine
cancer
who
blamed
talcum
powder
for her
cancers.
Two
similar
cases in
New
Jersey
were
thrown
out by a
judge
who said
the
plaintiffs'
lawyers
did not
presented
reliable
evidence
linking
talc to
ovarian
cancer.
More
than
1,000
other
people
have
filed
similar
lawsuits.
Some who
won
their
lawsuits
won much
lower
amounts,
illustrating
how
juries
have
wide
latitude
in
awarding
monetary
damages.
Johnson
&
Johnson
is
preparing
to
defend
itself
and its
baby
powder
at
upcoming
trials
in the
U.S.,
Goodrich
said.