Jury Awards $417 Million To Woman Linking Johnson’s Baby Powder To Cancer
Popular baby powder company Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay Eva Echeverria $417 million as a result of her linking her ovarian cancer to applying the talcum powder. According to Echeverria, she has been using the product for over 50 years and accuses the powder use to her severe health issue. Consequently, there was enough evidence to substantiate the claim, and she received a hefty sum for her accusation.
Echeverria was diagnosed with the disease in 2007 and is now near death 10 years after the diagnosis. The plaintiff is in such bad shape that she was unable to attend the court hearing, but instead submitted a deposition via video, the Observer reports. In addition, she had been applying the product to her genitals until she saw a story break about another person getting ovarian cancer after using the product.
This is certainly not a unique lawsuit regarding the talcum powder that the brand distributes. According to the Los Angeles Times, there are more than 300 lawsuits pending in California, and more than 4,500 claims in the rest of the country, claiming that the company has ignored very important studies linking the Johnson’s Baby and Shower to Shower products with cancer.
A court orders Johnson & Johnson to pay a record $417M to a woman w/ovarian cancer who used baby powder regularly for feminine hygiene. pic.twitter.com/Xg7EiNz6zd
— AJ+ (@ajplus) August 21, 2017
The Los Angeles Times adds that Echeverria testified that if Johnson & Johnson – which profited $16.5 billion last year – would have put a label on the particular product, she would have stopped using it a long time ago.
The lawsuit stated that she developed the type of cancer due to a “proximate result of the unreasonably dangerous and defective nature of talcum powder,” and her attorney, Mark P. Robinson Jr., stated that Johnson & Johnson had many warning bells for over 30 years but failed to act on them, according to the Associated Press.
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In late 2016, Mark Robinson requested an expedited trial due to Echeverria’s rapidly deteriorating health. The notion was based on the talcum powder having the ability to move up to the ovaries when applied to the genitals, which is how the cancer has developed.
Overall, based on the judgment of $417 million, $408 million was awarded in the form of $68 million for compensatory damages and $340 in punitive damages.
Regarding the upcoming cases, representatives of Johnson & Johnson are preparing themselves for trial. They are also planning on appealing the current judgment awarded to Echeverria.
[Featured Image By Matt Rourke/AP Images]
