A jury in Illinois has ordered the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue to pay $45 million to the family of a woman who died of mesothelioma after using baby powder.
The lawsuit was filed by the family members of Theresa Garcia, a woman who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January 2020 and died just six months later.
Mesothelioma is an aggressive type of lung cancer that is commonly linked to asbestos exposure.
Her lawyers argued that she was exposed to asbestos from contaminated talcum powder on a near-daily basis from the time she was a child until she was an adult.
The experts told the jury that “the daily use and amount inhaled by Ms. Garcia throughout her life led to her mesothelioma.”
The lawsuit claims that Johnson & Johnson knew about the risk of asbestos in talc as early as the 1930s, but never put any warning label on their products to warn that it could be contaminated with asbestos.
The lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois — Case Number 2020L004505.
Source: J&J Hit With $45M Talc Verdict In Illinois Cancer Trial