Los Angeles Jury Links Talc To Ovarian Cancer, Awarding Woman $417 Million

In 2017, a Los Angeles jury awarded a $417 million verdict in the first of many ovarian cancer talc trials to take place in California.

The trial involved plaintiff Eva Echeverria who claimed Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products were responsible for her ovarian cancer.

According to a videotaped deposition played for the jury, 63-year-old Echeverria began using the company’s baby powder for feminine hygiene when she was 11 years old and stopped in 2016 after watching a news story about a woman with ovarian cancer who had also used the product.

After a four-week trial and days of deliberations, the jury held Johnson & Johnson liable for failing to warn of a link between its talcum powder products and ovarian cancer.

Echeverria testified that had Johnson & Johnson put a warning on the product, she would have stopped using it.

This continues to be the largest single plaintiff verdict against J&J in the talc litigation and the first delivered outside Missouri.

The breakdown of liability in the jury verdict was as follows:

• Johnson & Johnson – $68 million compensatory damages
• Johnson & Johnson – $340 million punitive damages
• Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. – $2 million compensatory damages
• Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. – $7 million punitive damages

Total Punitive Damages – $347 million
Total Compensatory Damages – $70 million

Echeverria’s case was the first of hundreds of similar cases filed in California to go to trial.

Beasley Allen has been privileged to represent thousands of women who developed ovarian cancer after using talcum powder on their genitals for feminine hygiene and continues to investigate these cases.