A Missouri court has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $72 million in damages to the family of a woman whose death from ovarian cancer was linked to her use of the company’s talc-based Baby Powder and Shower to Shower, over a period of several decades. Johnson & Johnson is also facing several hundred lawsuits, all claiming that the company failed to inform consumers of the risks associated with longtime use of their products.
According to court records, the family of Jacqueline Fox was awarded $10 million of actual damages and $62 million of punitive damages, in a verdict that was announced this past Monday.
Fox, who lived Birmingham, Alabama, passed away this past October, after being diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer three years ago. She claimed that she regularly used Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for feminine hygiene for 35 years, up until her diagnosis.
Jere Beasley, a lawyer for Fox’s family, said, via a conference call with journalists that Johnson & Johnson “knew as far back as the 1980s of the risk,” and still resorted “lying to the public, lying to the regulatory agencies.”
The Fox case is not the first time that Johnson & Johnson body powder products have been linked to Ovarian cancer. In 2013, a federal jury in Sioux Falls, South Dakota found that plaintiff Deane Berg’s Ovarian cancer diagnosis was also linked to her regular use of talc-based products. Records show that Berg wasn’t awarded any damages.
The link between talcum powder and Ovarian cancer was first found in the 1970’s. Back then, talcum powder was often contaminated with asbestos, the fibers of which are a known carcinogen. Since then, asbestos has been effectively outlawed from home products. Researchers continue to speculate about the possibility that regular use of talc-based products leads to Ovarian cancer.