This is worrying news.
A court in the US has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay €346m to a woman after she claimed its baby powder gave her ovarian cancer.
According to court documents, the woman, named Eva Echeverria, used the famous talc powder from the 1950s until 2016. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007.
During the trial, Eva’s lawyer Mark Robinson said that she is currently undergoing cancer treatment in hospital and told him that she just hopes the company make it more clear of the dangers involved when using its products.
However, Carol Goodrich, a spokesperson for Johnson & Johnson told Her.ie: “Ovarian cancer is a devastating diagnosis and we deeply sympathize with the women and families impacted by this disease.
“We will appeal today’s verdict because we are guided by the science, which supports the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder.
“In April, the National Cancer Institute’s Physician Data Query Editorial Board wrote, ‘The weight of evidence does not support an association between perineal talc exposure and an increased risk of ovarian cancer.’
“We are preparing for additional trials in the U.S. and we will continue to defend the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder.”
“She really didn’t want sympathy. She just wanted to get a message out to help these other women,” Mr Robinson said.
The jury’s decision saw Eva awarded €57m in compensatory damages and €289m in punitive damages.
This will be the largest amount of money awarded yet in a number of lawsuits that claim the company did not adequately warn customers about potential cancer risks from its talc-based products.
