J&J must pay a whopping $18.8 million to a California cancer patient in a baby powder lawsuit.
A Californian man who was exposed to Johnson & Johnson's baby powder and later acquired cancer must receive $18.8 million from the company. Emory Hernandez Valadez won the jury's decision in his favor after bringing a claim against the business in state court in California.
Hernandez, 24, alleges that exposure to the talc produced by the firm heavily since he was a toddler caused him to get the deadly cancer mesothelioma. The six-week experiment was J&J's first talc-related trial in nearly two years. Hernandez was determined to be entitled to compensation for medical costs and pain and suffering, but the jury decided against punishing the firm with punitive damages.
According to J&J, the decision is "irreconcilable with the decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming Johnson's Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer." J&J will appeal the decision.
Numerous lawsuits have been filed by plaintiffs who claim that J&J's baby powder and other talc products occasionally contained asbestos and contributed to the development of ovarian cancer and mesothelioma.
According to J&J, its talc products are risk-free and free of asbestos, which has been associated with mesothelioma. LTL Management, a J&J company, filed for bankruptcy in Trenton, New Jersey, in April with a plan to pay $8.9 billion to resolve more than 38,000 complaints and stop further litigation. After a federal appeals court rejected an earlier offer, it was the company's second attempt to settle talc claims in bankruptcy.
Hernandez's trial was permitted to continue by U.S. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan because of his short life expectancy. LTL's bankruptcy filing was made in bad faith, according to asbestos plaintiffs, who claim, in order to shield the business from lawsuits.
In contrast to trial courts, J&J and LTL contend that bankruptcy offers equitable settlement payouts. J&J has spent $4.5 billion on judgements, settlements, and litigation costs relating to talc.