A Los Angeles jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to pay a total of $966 million (more than 325 billion forints) in damages in the case of Mae Moore, a California woman who died in 2021 at the age of 88. According to the plaintiff’s family, the company’s talc-based baby powder contained asbestos fibers, which caused the rare cancer. J&J disputes liability and has announced an immediate appeal.
The parties’ positions
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J&J: Erik Haas, the company’s vice president of global litigation, called the ruling “outrageous and unconstitutional” and cited “pseudoscientific” arguments on the plaintiff’s side. The company claims that its products are safe, do not contain asbestos, and do not cause cancer. J&J pulled talcum powder from the U.S. market in 2020 and switched to a cornstarch-based formula.
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Plaintiffs: Trey Branham, a lawyer for the Moore family, said the ruling means it’s time for the company to take responsibility for “the senseless deaths.”
Mass lawsuits in the United States
The case is not unique: more than 67,000 lawsuits have been filed against J&J in the United States with similar claims. The company has attempted a comprehensive out-of-court settlement in recent years, but the federal courts have rejected the scheme three times. Some claims have already been settled by the company, but there is no national agreement, so mesothelioma (pleural cancer) cases are being heard one by one in state courts. J&J has also won in lawsuits (most recently in South Carolina), so the balance of the dispute is not one-sided.
What’s next?
The current verdict is under appeal, and the amount may be reduced or changed during the higher court proceedings. The outcome of this development could affect thousands of pending lawsuits and could impact the company’s legal strategy – particularly efforts to reach a unified settlement.
