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 In a verdict announced late Monday night, jurors in the circuit
court of St. Louis awarded the family of Jacqueline Fox $10 million
of actual damages and $62 million of punitive damages, according to
the family's lawyers and court records.
The verdict is the first by a U.S. jury to award damages over the
claims, the lawyers said.
Johnson & Johnson faces claims that it, in an effort to boost sales,
failed for decades to warn consumers that its talc-based products
could cause cancer. About 1,000 cases have been filed in Missouri
state court, and another 200 in New Jersey.
Fox, who lived in Birmingham, Alabama, claimed she used Baby Powder
and Shower to Shower for feminine hygiene for more than 35 years
before being diagnosed three years ago with ovarian cancer. She died
in October at age 62.
Jurors found Johnson & Johnson liable for fraud, negligence and
conspiracy, the family's lawyers said. Deliberations lasted four
hours, following a three-week trial.
Jere Beasley, a lawyer for Fox's family, said Johnson & Johnson
"knew as far back as the 1980s of the risk," and yet resorted to
"lying to the public, lying to the regulatory agencies." He spoke on
a conference call with journalists.
Carol Goodrich, a Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman, said: "We have no
higher responsibility than the health and safety of consumers, and
we are disappointed with the outcome of the trial. We sympathize
with the plaintiff's family but firmly believe the safety of
cosmetic talc is supported by decades of scientific evidence."
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Trials in several other talc lawsuits have been set for later this
year, according to Danielle Mason, who also represented Fox's family
at trial.
In October 2013, a federal jury in Sioux Falls, South Dakota found
that plaintiff Deane Berg's use of Johnson & Johnson's body powder
products was a factor in her developing ovarian cancer.
Nevertheless, it awarded no damages, court records show.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc now owns the Shower to
Shower brand but was not a defendant in the Fox case.
The case is Hogans et al v. Johnson & Johnson et al, Circuit Court
of the City of St. Louis, Missouri, No. 1422-CC09012.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York. Additional reporting by
Jessica Dye in New York; editing by Steve Orlofsky and Alan Crosby)
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