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Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Cancer Settlement Overview:
- Who: A jury has awarded a 35-year-old woman with mesothelioma $26.5 million in her lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson.
- Why: The plaintiff accused Johnson & Johnson of contributing to her cancer by ignoring warnings about asbestos in its baby powder, which she was exposed to regularly during her childhood.
- Where: The trial played out in superior court in Northern California.
A California jury has awarded a 35-year-old woman with terminal cancer about $26.5 million in damages, in a trial where she accused Johnson & Johnson of making her sick through ignoring warnings about asbestos in its talc baby powder.
On Monday, a superior court jury in Alameda County decided in favor of plaintiff Christina Prudencio, who has a terminal case of malignant mesothelioma — a cancer of the thin tissue that lines the lung, chest wall, and abdomen.
The trial began over Zoom on June 15, Law360 reported.
After ruling in Prudencio’s favor, the jury awarded her $20 million for damages including pain and suffering, $4.1 million for lost past and future income, $1.57 million for lost household services and $800,000 for past medical costs, Law360 reported.
During the trial, Prudencio said Johnson & Johnson talcum powder had been used on her from birth until she was 16. After that, she continued to be exposed through the use of the product on her younger siblings.
Prudencio went on to become a preschool teacher and was studying for her master’s degree when she discovered she had cancer, her lawyers said. The illness forced her to stop working.
On her 34th birthday last year, Prudencio had surgery to try to remove the cancer. Her lawyers said Johnson & Johnson knew there was cancer-causing chrysotile asbestos in the talc as early as 1971, when a researcher alerted the company.
The product stayed on the market unchanged until 2020.
“A reasonable company, being told that, would stop, take the product off the marketplace. ‘Let’s study it; let’s look at it; let’s see if there’s really carcinogens in our product.’ That’s what a reasonable company does,” her lawyers reportedly told the jury.
However Johnson & Johnson’s lawyer told the jury that Prudencio’s malignant cancer is most likely a result of a gene mutation.
Johnson & Johnson is facing many claims that its product gave its consumers cancer.
In June, the company failed to convince the US Supreme Court to hear its appeal of a $2.1 billion verdict in a class action lawsuit that claimed talc in its baby powder products caused ovarian cancer.
The Supreme Court issued its order declining to hear the company’s appeal in the class action lawsuit originally filed in Missouri federal court.
In the case, the Johnson & Johnson baby powder class action lawsuit alleged that dozens of plaintiffs “bought and used Defendants’ [J&J] products in St. Louis City and later developed ovarian cancer.”
The plaintiffs accused the company of knowingly marketed and sold a product that increases consumers’ risk of ovarian cancer.
Have you used Johnson & Johnson baby powder products? Tell us about your experience in the comment section below!
Prudencio is represented by Joseph Satterley of Kazan McClain Satterley & Greenwood.
The Johnson & Johnson Prudencio Cancer Lawsuit is Christina Prudencio v. Johnson & Johnson, Case No. RG20061303, in the Superior Court of California, Alameda County.
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17 thoughts onJury Awards $26.5M to Cancer Patient Suing Johnson & Johnson Over Baby Powder
I just got told that I had a malignant polyps massas active in my colon I used j and j since my mother used it on me as a baby I have always used it in my bottom area front and back for moisture control I live a healthy life style watch what I eat but 3 years ago I started gaining wieght I went to er for pain in my stomach unbearable and they said I had a blockage that needed to be removed it was malignant not binion
Please add me
I got carcinogen in my colon from using this product for years I would put it in and around my private parts for moisture control and dryness never did I think it would have caused this I had the mass removed in may it was active I was hospitalized and went through a lot of pain causing other percent health problems
Please Add Me
Add me
Please add me My mom used this on me as a child and I used this product on my children
None of the attorneys want to take a case involving someone who has cancer of the uterus, and other parts.
Plz add me
Add me
Add me plz i have been using this johnson n johnson baby powder for years .
Please add me I’ve been using this product and shower to shower since I was a young child. Still use this as an adult