Kriti Agrawal
Johnson & Johnson has requested that the Supreme Court examine a $2 billion decision in favour of women who claim they acquired ovarian cancer after using the company’s talc products.
Former independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who is defending the women who sued Johnson & Johnson, is among the high-profile attorneys involved in the case, some of whom have strange ties.
The company is backed by the nation’s top business groupings, and a justice’s father appears as a result of his lengthy relationship with the trade group for cosmetics and personal care products.
The Court could decide whether to intervene.
At the heart of the case, Johnson & Johnson claims that it was not given a fair shake in a trial in Missouri state court that resulted in an original $4.7 billion decision in favour of 22 women who used talc products and acquired ovarian cancer.
A state appeals court reduced the verdict by more than half and dismissed two of the plaintiffs, but upheld the outcome of a trial in which lawyers for both sides presented opposing expert testimony about whether the company’s talc products contain asbestos and whether asbestos-laced talc can cause ovarian cancer.
The Jury ruled in favour of the ladies on both counts, and Judge Rex M. Burleson stated that the evidence at trial demonstrated “Particularly heinous conduct on the part of Defendants.”
Burlison stated that the evidence showed that the firm was aware of the presence of asbestos in items marketed at mothers and newborns, was aware of the potential harm, and misrepresented the safety of these products for decades.
According to the plaintiffs’ lawyers, nine of the ladies died from ovarian cancer.
Johnson & Johnson claims that its talc products cause cancer, and the judgement in the Missouri trial was described as “Contrary to decades of independent scientific analyses indicating Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, is not contaminated by asbestos, and does not cause cancer.”
The company also manufactures one of three covid-19 vaccinations that have been licensed for use in the United States.