J&J must pay $15 million to Connecticut man who says its talc caused his cancer, jury finds

By Brendan Pierson

(Reuters) -Johnson & Johnson must pay $15 million to a Connecticut man who alleges that he developed mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, as a result of using the company’s talc powder for decades, a jury found on Tuesday.

Plaintiff Evan Plotkin sued the company in 2021 soon after his diagnosis, saying he was sickened by inhaling J&J (NYSE:JNJ)’s baby powder.

The jury in Fairfield County, Connecticut Superior Court also found that the company should pay additional punitive damages, though the amount has not yet been determined.

Erik Haas, J&J’s worldwide vice president of litigation, said in a statement that the company would appeal “erroneous” rulings by the trial judge that kept the jury from hearing critical facts about the case.

“Those facts show that the verdict is irreconcilable with the decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming talc is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer,” Haas said.

A lawyer for Plotkin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tuesday’s verdict comes as J&J seeks to resolve claims by more than 62,000 people who say that they got ovarian and other gynecological cancers from talc through a nearly $9 billion settlement in bankruptcy.

The bankruptcy deal, which faces legal challenges from some plaintiffs’ lawyers, has put the lawsuits over gynecological cancers on hold, but does not affect the much smaller number of mesothelioma claims like Plotkin’s. The company has previously settled some of those claims but has not proposed a nationwide settlement.

Plaintiffs in all of the lawsuits say that J&J’s talc products, like its once iconic baby powder, were tainted with asbestos, a carcinogen known to cause mesothelioma and other cancers.

J&J withdrew its talc-based powder products from the U.S. market in 2020.

Reuters watched the verdict announcement through Courtroom View Network.