A jury in Oregon ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $260 million to a woman who claimed using the company’s baby powder for her whole life was the cause of her illness.
After finding Johnson & Johnson accountable for Kyung Lee’s mesothelioma, a state-level jury in Portland, Oregon, granted her $200 million in compensatory damages and $60 million in punitive damages.
Johnson & Johnson Directed To Pay $260 Million To Woman With Mesothelioma
At 48 years old, Lee was given a mesothelioma diagnosis last year. She contended that Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based baby powder was contaminated with asbestos.
Kyung Lee and her family used Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder for years without realizing it could cause a fatal condition, according to Ben Adams, one of Lee’s attorneys.
There are currently over 61,000 lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson that link the company’s talc product to various malignancies. A federal judge in New Jersey is handling many of these cases, and state courts will hear trial in other cases.
By filing for bankruptcy again, a J&J division is attempting to convince consumers of the baby powder to support a $11 billion settlement of all ongoing and prospective litigation.
Consumers To Vote in Favor Of Settlement Agreement
This week marks the beginning of the process for consumers to vote in favor of the settlement agreement. Officials from Johnson & Johnson stated that they would appeal the Oregon ruling and are certain it would be overturned, citing decades of independent scientific assessments attesting to talc’s safety, lack of asbestos, and does not cause cancer.
Johnson & Johnson promised to remove all talc-based baby powders from the market globally by the end of the previous year when it removed its talc-based powders from the US and Canadian markets in 2020, claiming declining sales. Instead, the company switched to a cornstarch-based talc substitute.
For over a century, the business has marketed its baby powder responsibly and has consistently claimed that talc does not cause cancer. In order to make room for a fresh attempt to settle the talc lawsuit in bankruptcy court, Johnson & Johnson has invested billions of dollars in the settlement of other mesothelioma claims.
Johnson & Johnson files for a “pre-packaged” bankruptcy in accordance with regulations that let businesses file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy more quickly if they have sufficient creditor support.
In order to settle the ovarian cancer claims, the firm is required by the new plan to pay $6.48 billion over a 25-year period. It is unknown how much of this money will be set aside for current cases and how much would be deposited in a trust for future claims.
Erik Haas pointed out that the plan is in the best interests of claimants and that the moment has come to finish this case. Consumers have eight weeks to decide whether to support the offer. Attorneys representing former baby powder users are against the agreement, arguing that it will unfairly impose settlements upon affected consumers and offers pitiful rewards.
Former baby powder user Andy Birchfield said that J&J is filing for bankruptcy for the third time in less than three years and that an Oregon jury made it very evident how severe the company’s talc issue is.
Lee v. Johnson & Johnson, 23CV400369, is the Oregon case that is currently pending in the Fourth Judicial District Circuit Court for Multnomah County, Oregon (Portland).
