Johnson & Johnson pays $15 million in damages

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 10. 16. 10:13

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Johnson & Johnson must pay 15 million dollars (more than HUF 5.5 billion) in damages to a Connecticut man, Evan Plotkin, who, according to Reuters, caused mesothelioma, a rare type of cancer, after using the company’s talc-based baby powder for decades. A Fairfield County Superior Court jury in Connecticut awarded damages and recommended additional punitive damages, the exact amount of which will be determined by a judge at a later date.

Evan Plotkin sued the company in 2021 after his diagnosis, claiming he developed the disease from inhaling J&J baby powder. According to Plotkin’s lawyer, Ben Braly, the verdict confirms that Johnson & Johnson can be held responsible for products that contain asbestos and may cause cancer, according to Reuters, the Pénzcentrum reports.

But Erik Haas, Johnson & Johnson’s vice president of global litigation, said the company will appeal because it believes the decision is “wrong” and does not reflect decades of independent scientific evaluations that talc is safe and asbestos-free.

Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based products have been the subject of numerous lawsuits in the United States, with thousands of plaintiffs alleging that these products caused ovarian cancer and other cancers. The company is trying to settle more than 62,000 claims in a nearly $9 billion bankruptcy settlement. That settlement is also subject to legal challenges, and while it suspends gynecological cancer lawsuits, it does not affect mesothelioma cases like Plotkin’s.