Judges Slam J&J’s ‘Reprehensible’ Talc Defense, Cut Massive 2018 Verdict to $2.11B
“For years, Johnson & Johnson has vowed to appeal each talc verdict it lost, and the company cited a ‘fundamentally unfair process’ and ‘multiple errors’ when jurors in St. Louis ordered the company to pay $4.69 billion to 22 women with ovarian cancer,” reports Eric Sagonowsky in Fierce Pharma’s Pharma.
“Now, an appeals court has reduced that award—but only to $2.11 billion, thanks to J&J’s ‘outrageous’ and ‘reprehensible’ defense of the product.”
“J&J brought 10 arguments in appeals, but the court found that plaintiffs ‘proved with convincing clarity that defendants engaged in outrageous conduct because of an evil motive or reckless indifference.'”
“After reviewing the arguments, the judges found that J&J ‘discussed the presence of asbestos in their talc in internal memoranda for several decades; avoided adopting more accurate measures for detecting asbestos and influenced the industry to do the same; attempted to discredit those scientists publishing studies unfavorable to their products; and did not eliminate talc from the products and use cornstarch instead because it would be more costly to do so.'”
