Jury Awards Record-Setting $110.5M in Baby Powder Lawsuit
A St. Louis jury has awarded a Virginia woman a record-setting $110.5 million in the latest lawsuit alleging that using Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder caused cancer, according to an Associated Press report.
The verdict for Lois Slemp comes after three previous St. Louis juries awarded a total of $197 million to plaintiffs who made similar claims. About 2,000 state and federal lawsuits are in courts across the country over concerns about health problems caused by prolonged talcum powder use.
“Slemp, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012, blames her illness on her use of the company’s talcum-containing products for more than 40 years,” the AP report says. “Her cancer has spread to her liver. Although she was too ill to attend the trial, an audiotape of her deposition testimony was played. In it she said: ‘I trusted Johnson & Johnson. Big mistake.'”