Johnson & Johnson is Ordered to Pay Almost $4.7 Billion in Asbestos Cancer Case

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A verdict on Thursday in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis has left Johnson & Johnson having to pay almost $4.7 billion in a Missouri asbestos cancer case.

The verdict comprised of $550 million in compensatory damages and $4.14 billion in punitive damages was awarded to 22 women who alleged the company’s talc-based products, including its baby powder, contain asbestos and caused them to develop ovarian cancer.

This is the largest verdict the company has ever faced to date over the allegations of its Talc-based products causing cancer.

There are around 9,000 talc cases the company is currently fighting in which it denies that its talc products cause cancer and that they ever contained asbestos.

According to the company, the trial was “fundamentally unfair” and said it would appeal the decision.

“Johnson & Johnson is deeply disappointed in the verdict, which was the product of a fundamentally unfair process,” the company said in a statement.

“Every verdict against Johnson & Johnson in this court that has gone through the appeals process has been reversed and the multiple errors present in this trial were worse than those in the prior trials which have been reversed,” J&J also said.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and have not been compensated for this article.