Following two multi-million dollar jury awards, new filings of baby powder cancer lawsuits are on the rise against defendant Johnson & Johnson.

A recent case report from the New Jersey court system shows that roughly one-fifth of the baby powder cancer lawsuitscurrently pending in that court system have been filed since late February, when two such lawsuits culminated in tens of millions of dollars in damage awards against J&J.

Thousands of similar claims are pending in other states’ court systems, and even more are expected to be filed.

Baby Powder Cancer Lawsuits Yield Awards for Plaintiffs

The first such award came in February 2016, a St. Louis jury awarded $72 million to the family of a woman who died of ovarian cancer allegedly after decades of using J&J’s talcum powder products for feminine hygiene.

In a deposition recorded before she died, Jacqueline said she used Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower as a feminine hygiene cosmetic for 35 years. Both products contain talc, and both have been made by defendant J&J.

Jacqueline believed these products were what led to her development of ovarian cancer, which ultimately took her life.

Following the award to Jacqueline’s family, another St. Louis jury issued a $55 million dollar award to plaintiff Gloria R. After three weeks of trial jurors spent about a day deliberating before agreeing on an award in Gloria’s favor.

Gloria’s win was surprising in light of the fact that her claim had been one selected by the defendant as one of the first few cases to go to trial – so-called “bellwether” cases, which serve to inform all the parties as to how the evidence and arguments are likely to play out in other baby powder lawsuits.

J&J presumably picked Gloria’s case because the company though it was not likely to succeed.

The lion’s share of each of these jury awards represented punitive damages, the purpose of which is not so much to compensate the victims but to punish the defendant for what the jury finds is particularly blameworthy behavior. Representatives for Jacqueline’s family say they plan to offer $31 million to the Missouri Crime Victim’s Compensation Fund.

In both these cases and in the many other baby powder cancer lawsuits, plaintiffs are accusing J&J of failing to warn consumers about a possible baby powder cancer risk. Internal J&J documents revealed during trial reportedly showed that J&J had been aware of the possibility of a baby powder cancer risk, yet chose not to alert the consuming public about it.

In one such internal memo, a company medical specialist reportedly compared ignoring the possible link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer to ignoring the link between cigarettes and lung cancer.

J&J maintains that both verdicts were erroneous. Company spokespersons continue to assert that decades’ worth of research supports the safety of their talcum powder products. The company is expected to appeal both verdicts.

Jacqueline’s and Gloria’s baby powder cancer lawsuits were the first to yield positive jury awards for the plaintiffs. In the first of the baby powder lawsuits to go to trial, a North Dakota jury found J&J had been negligent in its failure to warn.

However, they also declined to award damages to the plaintiff, whose ovarian cancer was in remission at the time of trial.