25 August, 2017
Jurors in Los Angeles who returned Monday's United States dollars 417 million verdict against Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) in a talc-ovarian cancer case were the first to hear evidence that other body powder sellers now warn women that genital use of talcum powder may increase ovarian cancer risks. Another woman, Deane Berg of Sioux Falls, S.D., won a lawsuit, but the jury did not award damages.
Echeverria alleged Johnson & Johnson failed to adequately warn consumers about talcum powder's potential cancer risks.
Echeverria developed ovarian cancer as a "proximate result of the unreasonably unsafe and defective nature of talcum powder", she said in her lawsuit. Since her ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2007, she has undergone numerous surgeries and chemotherapy treatments.
"She really didn't want sympathy", he added.
A central IN woman is among the hundreds of people who are suing Johnson & Johnson over a popular product.
Courts have awarded more than $700 million in damages to women diagnosed with ovarian cancer after using the powder for decades for feminine hygiene.
A statement on the company's website also says that scientific evidence supports the safety of the powder.
Ms. Echeverria began daily use of Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder products when she was 11 years old. In May, a Missouri jury awarded $110 million to a Virginia woman, a year after Missouri juries awarded $55 million to one plaintiff and $72 million to a woman who died before the verdict.
Another St. Louis jury in March rejected the claims of a Tennessee woman with ovarian and uterine cancer who blamed talcum powder for her cancers.
More than 1,000 other people have filed similar lawsuits.
Johnson & Johnson has declined to provide similar warnings on its Johnson's Baby Powder, which contains talc and has been the focus in multiple trials.
