The Presence of Asbestos May Constitute New Evidence Leading to the Reopening of Overturned Johnson Baby Powder Cases

Johnson & Johnson is appealing or has had overturned close to one half a billion dollars in punitive damages that had been awarded against them for claims Johnson's Baby Powder caused ovarian cancer

Thursday, August 16, 2018 - Now that one month has passed since a jury awarded 22 cancer victims over $5 billion, mostly in the form of punitive damages, others are planning their strategies to take advantage of this landmark court decision. One case stands out in particular, that of a woman whose mother was initially awarded $417 million only to have the award vacated on appeal. The woman claimed that her mother died from ovarian cancer following a lifetime of using Johnson's Baby Powder. She is now seeking a new trial on the grounds that new evidence has been found supporting her case; that evidence being the presence of a known carcinogenic substance, asbestos, in Johnson's talcum powder supply.

According to Reuters, "California resident Eva Echeverria (was awarded) $70 million in compensatory damages and $347 million in punitive damages." JNJ attorneys have argued that there was insufficient evidence to warrant such a high amount of punitive damages and that is clearly no longer the case. Internal company memos revealed in a recent landmark court decision point to executives at the company having knowledge that there was asbestos in Johnson's Baby Powder as early as 1971.

In addition to Echeverria, other women that have had their 9-figure awards vacated now want another crack at Johnson & Johnson. Most of the cases against JNJ are from California however 4 recent claims were tried out of state in Missouri. Two of the cases, one where the jury awarded $72 million in punitive damages, and the other where $55 million was awarded a woman, were thrown out on jurisdictional issues. Over $300 million had been awarded other plaintiffs against JNJ.

None of the ovarian cancer patients claimed that the presence of asbestos in Johnson's Baby Powder was the cause of ovarian cancer until the most recent trial demonstrated it as being so. In fact, Johnson & Johnson's co-defendant, talc supplier Imreys Inc., chose to settle the case for $5 million for each woman rather than contest the asbestos allegations against them.

The enormity of the jury awards reflects the anger jurors feel. Johnson & Johnson continues to deny that their iconic brand of baby powder causes cancer and the company refuses to place a warning label on bottles of Johnson's Baby Powder. Jurors are infuriated at the company's targeting of mothers and babies for their asbestos-laced talcum powder. Rather than alert the public Johnson & Johnson executives chose to change their marketing plan to target African American women, a racial demographics thought of by them to be less well-informed and likely to buy Johnson's Baby Powder asbestos or not. Jurors feel that such tactics represent a callous disregard for the health and well-being of generations of Americans as women with their newborn babies are the most vulnerable. Johnson & Johnson knew Johnson's Baby Powder contained asbestos and continued to market it to mother and their babies for close to 5 decades. Consumers are fighting back and Talcum Powder ovarian cancer attorneys representing patients harmed by the regular use of Johnson and Johnson's baby powder are offering a free consultation.

Information provided by TalcumPowderCancerLawsuit.com, a website devoted to providing news about talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits, as well as medical research and findings.