|
 Justice Gerald Lebovits of the state supreme court in Manhattan
reduced the payout from the $325 million a jury awarded Donna Olson,
67, and Robert Olson, 65, in May 2019 following a 14-week trial.
While upholding the jury's liability finding, Lebovits wrote on Nov.
11 that the damages were too high, and the Olsons could either
accept $120 million or have a new trial on damages.
The judge approved the lowered payout on Wednesday, court records
show. It includes $15 million of compensatory damages and $105
million of punitive damages, down from an original $25 million and
$300 million, respectively.
Johnson & Johnson said it will appeal the verdict, citing
"significant legal and evidentiary errors" at the trial.
"We deeply sympathize with anyone suffering from cancer, which is
why the facts are so important," the company said. "We remain
confident that our talc is safe, asbestos free, and does not cause
cancer."
Jerome Block, a lawyer for the Olsons, said they were satisfied with
the result and confident it would stand.
He also said Donna Olson's mesothelioma "is at an advanced stage,
and we are hoping for the best."
Donna Olson had testified that she used Johnson's Baby Powder or
Shower to Shower daily for more than 50 years.
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Lebovits wrote that jurors could find that Johnson & Johnson was for many years
"knowingly deceitful about" or "willfully blind to" potential health risks of
its talc products, in part to maintain market share and profit.
The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company is appealing to the U.S. Supreme
Court a $2.12 billion damages award in Missouri to women who blamed their
ovarian cancer on asbestos in its baby powder and other talc products.
Johnson & Johnson has faced intense scrutiny of its baby powder's safety
following a 2018 Reuters investigative report that found it knew for decades
about asbestos in its talc.
Internal company records, trial testimony and other evidence show that from at
least 1971 to the early 2000s, J&J's raw talc and finished powders sometimes
tested positive for small amounts of asbestos. (https://www.reuters.com/
investigates/special-report/johnsonandjohnson-cancer/)
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and
Matthew Lewis)
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