ST. LOUIS — For the second time in three months, a St. Louis jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay a big award over claims that its talcum powder causes cancer.
The jury deliberated eight hours Monday before ordering the company to pay $55 million to a South Dakota woman who blamed her ovarian cancer on years of talcum powder use.
In February, another St. Louis jury awarded $72 million to the family of an Alabama woman who died from ovarian cancer, which she said was caused by using Johnson & Johnson's baby powder and other talcum products.
New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson will appeal the latest ruling.
"Unfortunately, the jury's decision goes against 30 years of studies by medical experts around the world that continue to support the safety of cosmetic talc," Johnson & Johnson spokesman Carol Goodrich said in a statement.
But Jim Onder, attorney for the plaintiff, Gloria Ristesund, said researchers began linking talcum powder to ovarian cancer in the 1970s, and that internal Johnson & Johnson documents show the company was aware of those studies.
"The evidence is real clear that Johnson & Johnson has known about the dangers associated with talcum powder for over 30 years," Onder said. "Instead of giving a warning, what they did was targeted the groups most at risk for developing ovarian cancer," specifically marketing to overweight women, blacks and Hispanics, he said.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.