J&J beats lawsuit alleging its talc caused cancer in three women

NEW YORK - A Los Angeles jury on Friday sided with Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N in a lawsuit by the families of three women who alleged that the company's talc products caused ovarian cancer, finding that J&J was not negligent when selling cosmetic talc products.

The lawsuit was filed by the families of Mary Owens, Bonnie Tienken and Geneva Williams, who each died of ovarian cancer after using talc-based baby powder.

J&J said its products are safe, do not contain asbestos, and ​do not cause cancer.

J&J faces lawsuits from over 67,000 plaintiffs alleging that its baby powder and other talc products cause ovarian cancer.

Trials have resumed after J&J failed to resolve the lawsuits in bankruptcy court.

J&J has a mixed record in trials, winning some cases outright but also being hit with large verdicts in other cases.

J&J also prevailed in a jury trial in Oklahoma last week.

J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product.

The case was tried in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles.

J&J vice president of litigation Erik Haas said on Friday that the case was based on "junk science."

Ten of the 12 jurors found that J&J was not negligent when making and selling talc-based cosmetic powder, according to proceedings viewed on Courtroom View Network.

J&J has settled a majority of cases alleging that its products caused mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer associated with asbestos.

Nearly all of the remaining cases allege that talc products cause ovarian cancer.

-Reporting by Dietrich Knauth, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien/Reuters