A Los Angeles jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $966 million in the talcum powder cancer case. The ruling came after evidence showed that the company used asbestos fiber to manufacture its powder. Asbestos fiber is a toxic chemical and is carcinogenic, causing a rare cancer.

The jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $966 million to the family of a woman who died from mesothelioma. The company is liable in the latest trial for its use of cancer-producing chemicals. The family of Mae Moore, a California resident, died at the age of 88 in 2021. The family sued J&J, claiming its baby talc powder contained asbestos fiber.

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Johnson & Johnson To Appeal the Court’s Verdict, Says Baby Talc & Cancer Have No Connection

The court ordered J&J to pay $16 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages. The total fine comes to $966 million, according to the court filings. The verdict could be reduced on appeal, as the US Supreme Court has generally held that punitive damages should not exceed nine times the amount of compensatory damages.

However, J&J plans to immediately appeal the verdict. Erik Haas, the company’s Vice President of Litigation, called the court’s ruling “egregious and unconstitutional.” Haas called the jury’s judgment “junk science,” and not based on actual science and temperament.

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“The plaintiff lawyers in this Moore case based their arguments on ‘junk science’ that never should have been presented to the jury,” Haas said. Despite his statement, J&J is facing lawsuits from more than 67,000 plaintiffs who were diagnosed with cancer after using the baby powder and other talc products.

The company has said that its products are safe and J&J does not use asbestos fibre. After the lawsuits piled up, the company began using cornstarch products.