In a significant legal victory for a cancer victim, Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $15 million to a Connecticut man who claims his mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, was caused by decades of using the company’s talc powder.
Evan Plotkin, the plaintiff in the case, filed a lawsuit against J&J in 2021 after his diagnosis. He alleged that he developed mesothelioma from inhaling asbestos-containing baby powder manufactured by the company. A jury in Fairfield County, Connecticut Superior Court agreed with Plotkin, finding that J&J was indeed liable for his illness.
The jury’s decision comes with the potential for additional punitive damages, the amount of which will be determined by the presiding judge at a later date. “Evan Plotkin and his trial team are thrilled that a jury once again decided to hold Johnson & Johnson accountable for their marketing and sale of a baby powder product that they knew contained asbestos,” stated Ben Braly, Plotkin’s lawyer.
Johnson & Johnson, however, is not accepting the verdict and has vowed to appeal the decision. Erik Haas, J&J’s worldwide vice president of litigation, expressed the company’s intention to appeal “erroneous” rulings by the trial judge that, according to J&J, prevented the jury from hearing key facts about the case. “Those facts show that the verdict is irreconcilable with the decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming talc is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer,” Haas stated.
This case is just one of many legal battles J&J is facing concerning the safety of its talc products. The company is currently attempting to resolve over 62,000 claims alleging that their talc-based products caused ovarian and other gynecological cancers through a bankruptcy settlement valued at nearly $9 billion. While this bankruptcy deal is intended to address those claims, it is facing legal challenges from some plaintiffs’ attorneys and does not encompass the smaller number of mesothelioma claims like Plotkin’s.
Despite previously settling some mesothelioma claims, J&J has not yet proposed a nationwide settlement for these cases. The crux of the allegations against J&J revolves around the claim that their talc products, including the iconic baby powder, were contaminated with asbestos, a known carcinogen linked to mesothelioma and other cancers. J&J removed its talc-based powder products from the US market in 2020.
This verdict serves as a potent reminder of the ongoing legal battles surrounding the safety of talc-based products and underscores the need for continued scrutiny and investigation into their potential health risks.