California Jury Returns $40 Million Talc Verdict Against Johnson & Johnson

A California woman suffering from mesothelioma has prevailed in the latest talc trial against Johnson & Johnson, following six days of jury deliberation that ended Friday when the jury awarded her $40 million in damages.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers said Nancy Cabibi, 71, of Hasuer, Idaho, and her husband Phil sued Johnson & Johnson, makers of Johnson’s Baby Powder, following her pleural mesothelioma diagnosis in 2017. Since then, Cabibi has undergone a variety of medical procedures including radical surgical intervention, chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy.

Testing of her body tissue showed the presence of tremolite and anthophyllite asbestos, known contaminants of Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower, both of which were manufactured by Johnson & Johnson and both of which Cabibi used.

The jury in the case found Johnson’s Baby Powder defective because it contained asbestos. It also found the powder caused Cabibi’s mesothelioma, which is an invariably fatal form of cancer, her lawyers said.

Johnson & Johnson argued Cabibi was exposed to asbestos through living in an area of Los Angeles home to industry, though she never worked in or even entered any facilities where she would have been exposed to asbestos.

“Nancy Cabibi is fighting to survive every single day because of asbestos in Johnson’s Baby Powder. While we are very pleased with this verdict, we know that we must continue to fight on behalf of the Cabibis and so many others who have been harmed,” said attorney David Greenstone of Simon Greenstone Panatier in Dallas, who along with firm attorneys Stuart Purdy and Marissa Langhoff represented the plaintiffs.

This is just the latest win for the law firm against Johnson & Johnson. Earlier this month, name partner Chris Panatier was one of several lawyers representing four people with mesothelioma who sued J&J in its home state of New Jersey. That jury found the four were exposed to asbestos from using the company’s baby powder and awarded $37.3 million.

And in May 2018, attorneys David Greenstone and Chris Panatier represented Joanne Anderson of Williams, Oregon who was on the receiving end of a $25.75 million verdict when another California jury found manufacturing and design defects in Johnson’s Baby Powder due to the presence of asbestos.

Simon Greenstone Panatier, P.C., is a nationally recognized trial law firm with a reputation for creative and aggressive representation of clients in a wide variety of catastrophic personal injury matters nationwide. For more information, visit http://www.sgptrial.com/.