The United States Supreme Court recently rejected an appeal filed by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to dismiss a historic $2.1 billion award the company was ordered to pay to a set of plaintiffs that alleged J&J talc powder products caused their ovarian cancer. Without another court above the U.S. Supreme Court, the decision is undoubtedly a massive win for the plaintiffs and American consumers overall. The decision was reached with no dissents, but Justices Alito and Kavanaugh did recuse themselves from the case due to potential conflicts of interest.
Previously, a Missouri jury decided that J&J should pay more than $4 billion in damages to a plaintiff class that sued after regular use of the company’s baby powder products appeared to be the direct cause of their ovarian cancer diagnoses. The court reduced that amount to $2.1 billion, and the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the reduced amount in the first round of appeals filed by the corporation. The Missouri Supreme Court decision prompted J&J to make a last-ditch effort to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to either have the award completely dismissed or reduced again.
Arguments that helped uphold the $2.1 billion award stated that J&J had ample and decades-old evidence of talc powder’s long-standing asbestos contamination but did nothing to change their product or notify their customers. According to the safety studies orbiting the class action and the 21,000-odd other pending lawsuits, talc used in the baby powder products is contaminated by microscopic yet dangerous levels of asbestos, which is what causes cancer, not the talc itself. J&J has marketed its baby powder products as safe for feminine hygiene purposes for the better part of a century.
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision and the mounting evidence being used to file further claims, Johnson & Johnson has remained steadfast in its argument that its products are safe and that the scientific evidence used by plaintiff classes is erroneous.
(For more information about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold the $2.1 billion award against J&J, you can click here to view a full article from CNBC.)
Call Our J&J Talc Powder Class Action Attorneys
Golomb Legalcan help you understand your rights to compensation if you use J&J baby powder products and were later diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We are class action attorneys with a nationwide presence, so we can assist you no matter where you call home. To date, we have already worked with and represented more than 1,000 women who have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer from talc use and are considered leaders in this specific area of litigation since 2016.
Call (215) 278-4449 now or use an online contact form to request a free consultation.