On Friday, a St. Louis jury chose to reject a woman’s claim that Johnson & Johnson baby powder played a role in her cancer diagnosis.
Nora Daniels, a 55-year-old woman from Tennessee, brought the unsuccessful claim against Johnson & Johnson. Daniels based her claim against the company around her usage of Johnson & Johnson baby powder from 1978 to 2013 in alleged connection with her cancer. Daniels stopped using the Johnson & Johnson powder product in 2013 when she was diagnosed with both ovarian and uterine cancer. As part of her treatment, she underwent a hysterectomy and was forced to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. Also, Daniels made a claim that Johnson & Johnson refused to warm the public of the potential link between their product and major health concerns.
Before Friday’s decision, Johnson & Johnson had lost the previous three lawsuits brought against the company for similar types of claims regarding their talc powder products. The previous three decisions, also made by Missouri juries, awarded an overall amount just under $200 million. Last year, in those three previous judgments, plaintiffs and plaintiff’s families were awarded $55 million, $70 million and $72 million.
Ultimately, there was only one juror, of the twelve total members, that dissented to the decision made last Friday. That juror was a 76-year-old man named George Stair. He wished that the jury could have “sent a message to Johnson & Johnson to put a warning on the product label.”
Currently, more than 2,500 federal as well as state lawsuits are in court all around the United States. These claims are based around the health concerns regarding the alleged connection between use of talcum powder and serious health issues, such as cancer.
Johnson & Johnson’s spokeswoman, Carol Goodrich, made the following statement regarding Friday’s decision: “The jury’s decision is consistent with the science, research, clinical evidence and decades of studies by medical experts around the world that continue to support the safety of cosmetic talc.”
If you or a loved one has used a talcum-powder product and as a result have experienced negative or unwanted outcomes contact the Naumes Law Group for a free consultation at 844-826-8445 or online at www.naumeslaw.com.