A Los Angeles jury recently sided with Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit filed by the families of three women who alleged that the company's talc products caused ovarian cancer. A jury found that Johnson & Johnson was not negligent in selling talc products for cosmetic use.
The lawsuit was filed by the families of Mary Owens, Bonnie Tienken and Geneva Williams, who all died of ovarian cancer after using talc-containing baby powder.
More than 67,000 plaintiffs have sued Johnson & Johnson, alleging that its baby powder and other talc products cause ovarian cancer.
While Johnson & Johnson won outright in some cases — including a trial last week in Oklahoma — juries in other cases awarded plaintiffs huge damages.
Johnson & Johnson stopped selling talc-containing baby powder in the United States in 2020 and switched to selling cornstarch products.
Erik Haas, Johnson & Johnson's vice president of litigation, said the case was based on "pseudoscience."
Ari Friedman, an attorney representing one of the plaintiffs, called the verdict "disappointing."
Johnson & Johnson has settled most of the cases accusing its products of causing mesothelioma, a rare asbestos-related cancer.
Nearly all of the remaining cases allege that talc products cause ovarian cancer.
