Pharma giant Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay over $110m to a woman who claimed that talcum powder from a company’s product caused her to develop ovarian cancer.
The ruling is the largest in a long string of legal actions against Johnson & Johnson, which is facing upwards of 2,400 lawsuits related to its talcum powder products. So far, the company has been hit with verdicts of up to $200m.
The cases center around the company’s failure to provide enough warning about possible risks incurred by long-term use of talcum powder.
Evidence on the issue remains inconclusive, with some studies stating that females using talcum powder products on a long term basis may have an increased risk of developing certain types of cancers, while other research leans to the contrary.
Johnson & Johnson has announced plans to appeal the ruling.