Johnson & Johnson must pay $2.1 billion to women who claimed baby powder causes cancer, court rules

Company denies its products contain carcinogens

Supreme Court Talc Lawsuit (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribu)

Johnson & Johnson must pay $2.1 billion over claims of asbestos in its baby powder after the Supreme Court refused to hear the company’s objection to a 2018 verdict that its product caused ovarian cancer in more than 20 women.

The company has denied claims its Baby Powder and Shower Shimmer Effects products were contaminated with carcinogens or caused cancer.

“The decision by the court to not review the case leaves unresolved significant legal questions that state and federal courts will continue to face,” J&J spokeswoman Kim Montagnino said in a statement emailed to Bloomberg. “The Supreme Court has many times said its decision to deny hearing a case expresses no view on the merits.”

The drugmaker announced in a securities filing in February that it had set aside $3.9 billion in litigation expenses “primarily associated with talc-related reserves and certain settlements”.

Johnson & Johnson is facing 25,000 lawsuits by baby powder users that claim asbestos contamination caused cancer. The company has stopped using talc in baby powder in the US and Canada since May 2020 while still disputing it caused cancer, citing lack of demand “fuelled by misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage of litigation advertising”.

In a statement to CNBC, the company said the matters before the court were related to legal procedure and not safety.

“Decades of independent scientific evaluations confirm Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer,” the statement said.

In rejecting Johnson & Johnson’s appeal, the Supreme Court did not comment on either the state court’s verdict or the company’s argument that it was not treated fairly in grouping 22 cancer sufferers from 12 states into the one trial.

The jury originally awarded a $4.7 billion payout before the amount was reduced through appeals.

Justices Samuel Alito, who owns Johnson & Johnson stock, and Brett Kavanaugh, whose father headed a trade association against labelling talc a carcinogen, were not involved in the decision.