The Dallas Business Journal reports that a jury has awarded a California woman $40 million after agreeing that Johnson and Johnson Baby Powder caused pleural mesothelioma.

Plaintiff Nancy C., now 71, claimed that the baby powder and Johnson & Johnson’s Shower to Shower talcum powder contained asbestos. Nancy claimed the products were defective due to asbestos contamination and that Johnson & Johnson failed to warn her and other consumers of the contamination, according to the Dallas Business Journal.

According to court records, Nancy was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in 2017 and since then she’s undergone surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy treatments.

Pleural mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lungs, which is called the pleura. The disease is caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibers, which settle deep into the lungs. After anywhere from 20 to 50 years of inducing inflammation and irritation, asbestos fibers can give rise to mesothelioma, a rare cancer that afflicts the lining of an organ.

In addition to the lining of the lungs, the disease may start in the lining of the chest or abdomen.

Johnson and Johnson Baby Powder Placed Blame Elsewhere

Defense attorneys for Johnson & Johnson tried to argue that Nancy and her husband lived in a part of Los Angeles that included many nearby industrial sites, which could have exposed her to asbestos. In response, Nancy said she never worked at any of those facilities, nor had she even entered one.

The type of asbestos found in samples of Nancy’s body tissue were tremolite and anthophyllite, which are forms of asbestos most often found next to talc when talc is mined.

Johnson & Johnson has been hit with several multi-million verdicts over allegations the company has marketed its talcum powders as safe for babies, but knowingly concealed that the products were laced with asbestos.

A special report by Reuters published in December 2018 alleged that Johnson & Johnson hid test results, as far back as 1971, that the mined talc and finished products tested positive for asbestos. Even though the amounts were small, the results were not released.

Reuters also uncovered lab results from 1957 that pointed out there were objects in the talc that appeared to be in the shape of needles, which is what the asbestos known as tremolite looks like under a microscope.

Although the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and many other regulatory bodies around the world say there is no safe level of asbestos exposure, Johnson & Johnson allegedly allowed small amounts of asbestos contamination to be listed as no contamination at all in its talcum powders.

Johnson and Johnson Baby Powder and Shower to Shower powder were both advertised as safe to use all over the body every day. Most advertising was directed at women who were told, “A sprinkle a day keeps the odor away” through a catchy jingle in radio and television advertisements.

According to CNBC, Johnson & Johnson currently has at least 14,000 pending lawsuits alleging that its talcum powders were responsible for the development of mesothelioma and ovarian cancer.