A bottle of Johnson and Johnson Baby Powder is seen in a photo illustration taken in New York. [Source: Reuters]
A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday rejected Johnson & Johnson’s bid to throw out a jury verdict.
This was in favor of women who blamed their ovarian cancer on its baby powder and other talc products, but reduced damages by more than half, to $2.12 billion.
The Missouri Court of Appeals lowered the original $4.69 billion verdict from July 2018 after dismissing claims by some of the 22 women and their families who had sued.
But it said the plaintiffs had proven that J&J and an affiliate concealed for decades that the talc products contained asbestos, “worked tirelessly” to ensure that testing protocols would not detect asbestos in all talc samples and published articles downplaying the safety hazards of talc.
J&J said it will appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court.
