A jury in St Louis, Missouri, has ruled that pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson must pay $72 million (€65 million) to the family of a woman who claimed her ovarian cancer was caused by their talcum powder.
According to The Telegraph, Jackie Fox claims she used two talcum-based products (talcum powder and shower to shower) as feminine hygiene products for 35 years before contracting ovarian cancer three years ago. Sadly Mrs Fox died as a result of the illness.
The case was won on the belief that the company have failed to warn users about the harmful dangers of the product, despite concerns by the American Cancer Society in 1999.
The company is currently facing 1,200 lawsuits from US based customers who say they were not made away of the risks.
In older talcum products, the talcum was often contaminated with asbestos but since the revelation of the link between asbestos and cancer, all products are required to be asbestos free.
Since the early 90s, most talcum powder manufacturers have altered the product ingredients, replacing talcum with cornstarch. Many in Britain however still use talcum.
The ruling seems to be controversial has many cancer experts claim the link between the product and cancer are unproven.
Jury foreman Krista Smith said at the hearing:
“It was really clear they were hiding something,” she said. “All they had to do was put a warning label on.”
