A cancer patient has won a $29.5 million verdict in her talc baby powder case against Johnson & Johnson.

On March 13, plaintiff Teresa L. was awarded a $29.5 million verdict by an Oakland, Calif. jury who found that her years-long use of Johnson & Johnson baby powder was a substantial part of why she developed mesothelioma. According to the jury, both Johnson & Johnson and Cyprus Mines Corporation, the company that supplied talc to Johnson & Johnson, should both be held responsible for Teresa’s injury.

Teresa’s case is one of a number of baby powder cases faced by Johnson & Johnson. Consumer Affairs notes that the value of Johnson & Johnson shares dropped after the jury delivered its verdict in Teresa’s case. 

In addition, the Justice Department and other agencies are now investigating Johnson & Johnson over asbestos contamination concerns, according to The New York Times. Despite the baby powder lawsuits and the hit that its stock prices took, the company “continues to defend” its baby powder. 

The $29.5 million decision in Teresa’s baby powder case was made by a 12 person jury, who unanimously found that Johnson & Johnson did not adequately warn Teresa of the potential risks in using the powder. Teresa claimed the talc in the baby powder she used contained asbestos, and that this asbestos was linked to Teresa’s development of mesothelioma, a type of cancer that is almost exclusively caused by asbestos. The jurors also unanimously found that had Teresa known about the true risk associated with the product, she would have changed her use of it.

Additionally, 11 of the 12 jurors found that Johnson & Johnson intentionally withheld information about the risks associated with the product, and a majority of jurors found that the baby powder’s “failure to perform safely” was a “substantial factor” in Teresa’s development of mesothelioma.

The jury then found that Johnson & Johnson was 78 percent liable for Teresa’s injury, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. was 20 percent liable, and Cyprus Mines Corporations was 2 percent liable.

Teresa was awarded compensation for medical expenses both past and future — $291,000 for past medical expenses and $1 million for medical expenses that she will incur in the future. She was also awarded $7 million for physical pain and mental suffering that she already suffered, and $15 million for physical pain and mental suffering that she will suffer later in life.

The jury also awarded Teresa’s partner, Dean M. $2 million for past loss of love and companionship, and $3 million for future loss of love and companionship, because Teresa’s illness allegedly negatively affects and will continue to affect their relationship.

Teresa’s baby power case claimed that she had used baby powder for personal hygiene purposes throughout her life, starting with her mother’s use of the product on her when she was a baby in the 1960s in the Philippines. Allegedly, Teresa continued to use it after her family moved to the United States in 1968. She says that she used it for a number of personal hygiene purposes, including using it as a dry shampoo for her hair and using it as a foundation for makeup.

According to the legal claim, she used the product through the 1970s.

Teresa’s baby powder case represents one of a barrage of baby powder cases launched against Johnson & Johnson for their production and marketing of baby powder, which contains talc, a mineral mined from the earth.

Talc is often found naturally in conjunction with talc. Companies in the talc industry insist that no asbestos remains in finished talc products available to consumers. But many mesothelioma patients say that the use of talc-based powders was their only possible exposure to asbestos.

The Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Case is Case No. RG17882401, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Alameda.