Johnson & Johnson Hit With $417 Million Verdict in Baby Powder Case
August 21 2017 - 3:07PM
Dow Jones News
By Sara Randazzo
LOS ANGELES -- A jury here awarded a woman with ovarian cancer
$417 million Monday in a case against Johnson & Johnson, the
latest hit to the pharmaceutical company in widespread litigation
over the alleged harms of its baby powder.
The verdict comes in the sixth completed trial alleging the
talcum powder in J&J's popular bath product causes ovarian
cancer, and that the company failed to warn about the risks. The
company won a trial in March but lost four others, leading to jury
awards totaling more than $300 million that are now on appeal.
A J&J spokeswoman said Monday that the company plans to
appeal the verdict. Individual jury awards in mass tort litigation
are idiosyncratic and are often reduced on appeal. At the same
time, the outcome of early trials can give plaintiffs and
defendants a better sense of how to value any eventual global
settlement.
J&J said in a recent securities filing that as of July 2 it
faced 4,800 pending claims in U.S. courts over its talc
products.
J&J has repeatedly said talc, an ingredient in powder, is
safe to use in cosmetic products and that its baby powder is
labeled appropriately. The company spokeswoman said Monday that
while they sympathize with those affected by ovarian cancer, "we
are guided by the science, which supports the safety of Johnson's
Baby Powder." She pointed to an April finding by a National Cancer
Institute board that "The weight of evidence does not support an
association between perineal talc exposure and an increased risk of
ovarian cancer."
J&J has latched on to a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling
limiting where cases can be filed to try to shed other pending talc
cases. A judge declared a mistrial in one such case in St. Louis
days after the Supreme Court ruling, and J&J has asked for
other verdicts and pending cases to be thrown out.
That ruling didn't come into play in the California state court
trial, the first to take place outside of St. Louis. The plaintiff,
Eva Echeverria, is a 63-year old Californian who was diagnosed with
ovarian cancer in 2007. Jurors heard from Ms. Echeverria via video
that she had used talc for feminine hygiene for more than 40 years
and would have stopped using it had there been a warning label.
Mark Robinson, an attorney for Ms. Echeverria, said Monday,
"These cases are about fighting for justice for women all over
California who are suffering from ovarian cancer because of Johnson
& Johnson's covering up the truth for so many years."
During closing arguments, a different attorney for Ms.
Echeverria stressed that the jury didn't need to prove that talc
was the sole cause of his client's cancer, only that it was a
"substantial factor," according to video of the proceedings
provided by Courtroom View Network.
The four-week trial hinged largely on a battle of the experts,
with pathologists, oncologists and other specialists called in by
both sides.
The American Cancer Society has said research linking women's
use of talcum powder in the genital area to ovarian cancer has been
"mixed, with some studies reporting a slight increased risk and
some reporting no increase."
One plaintiffs' expert showed that talc causes inflammation in
human tissues, and that chronic inflammation can cause ovarian
cancer. Another found 11 talc particles on Ms. Echeverria's tissue.
Ms. Echeverria's own treating gynecologic oncologist testified that
she believed talc was more likely than not the cause of her
patient's cancer.
J&J tried to discredit the opposing side's witnesses by
pointing out that the experts only began linking talc to ovarian
cancer after they were hired to assist in the litigation.
Bart Williams, an attorney for J&J, explained to jurors
during closing arguments that finding talc possibly causes the
disease isn't the same as deciding that it probably does, which is
the stricter standard required under California law for when a
product needs a warning label. "It's about establishing causation,"
he said.
Lawyers took out 16,000 advertisements warning viewers of the
potential risks of talcum powder in the first half of the year,
according to an X Ante analysis of Kantar Media CMAG data. That
makes it the fifth most-popular target of mass-tort TV ads focused
on drugs and medical devices, X Ante said.
Write to Sara Randazzo at sara.randazzo@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 21, 2017 14:52 ET (18:52 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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