A St. Louis jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay more than $110 million to a Virginia woman who blamed her ovarian cancer on the company’s talcum products.
The plaintiff, Lois Slemp, 62, from Virginia, Missouri, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy, has claimed that she developed the cancer after using talc products for forty years. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012, and the disease has now spread to her liver.
Her lawyers argued that there was evidence as far back as the 1970s linking the use of talcum powder to ovarian cancer. The company was blamed for not adequately warning about the cancer risks associated with the items.
Ms Slemp said the products she used included J&J’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower Powder.
About 2,400 lawsuits were filed against J&J so far over its talc-based products and this verdict is the largest of them.