Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder no longer contains talc powder.
BALTIMORE – A Baltimore city jury has awarded $1.5 billion to a woman after ruling Johnson & Johnson and subsidiaries exposed her to asbestos through talc-based personal care products.
Johnson & Johnson says it will appeal the December 22 verdict, which is believed to be the largest ever returned against the company for a single plaintiff.
“We will immediately appeal this egregious and patently unconstitutional verdict that is the direct result of the gross errors made by the trial court that allowed plaintiff’s counsel to pervade the record with improper and prejudicial statements and assertions,” said Erik Haas, J&J’s worldwide vice president of litigation. “The verdict is squarely at odds — in result and amount — with the vast majority of other talc cases wherein the company has prevailed and expect the appellate court to reverse the verdict.”
Cherie A. Craft, 59, sued the company after she was diagnosed in January 2024 with peritoneal malignant mesothelioma, an incurable cancer. The jurors said J&J did not warn Craft its baby powder contained asbestos.
“Her cancer was preventable,” said Jessica Dean, a partner at Dean Omar Branham Shirley, which represented Craft during the trial. “She used Johnson’s Baby Powder every day of her life until she was diagnosed with cancer.
“J&J refused to accept any responsibility and fought at every turn. We are grateful for the dedication of the jury and court and that J&J was held accountable.”
The jury award included $59.84 million in compensatory damages, covering medical expenses, loss wages, pain and suffering and other harms related to the diagnosis, plus $1 billion in punitive damages against Johnson & Johnson and $500 million punitive against Pecos River Talc.
Earlier this year, J&J tried to resolve talc cases through a bankruptcy procedure. But after that was unsuccessful, the company said it would take the cases to court. It faces more than 67,000 talc cases in the United States. The company has won most of the cases brought to trial so far, but there have been a few high-profile verdicts similar to this one.
In October, a California jury awarded the estate of Mae Moore $966 million in another talc case. Moore died of mesothelioma in 2021 at age 88.
Last week, a Minnesota jury awarded a 37-year-old woman with cancer in the lining of her lungs $65.5 million, and a California jury awarded two women with ovarian cancer $40 million.
J&J says there is no conclusive evidence its talc products contained asbestos or caused cancer.
“These lawsuits are predicated on ‘junk science,’ refuted by decades of studies, that demonstrate Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer,” Haas said. “The company will continue to advocate for gold standard science in the U.S. judicial system.
“For far too long, American juries have been permitted to review junk science supporting plaintiff lawyers in search of jackpot verdicts, instead of science from scientific agencies authorized by Congress to evaluate such matters.”
