Amid a nationwide freeze on Johnson & Johnson’s talc litigation, one case that had been allowed to proceed has ended in a trial verdict in favor of the plaintiff.
The plaintiff, Anthony Hernandez Valadez, filed his case last year after developing a rare type of mesothelioma, which he attributed to the prolonged use of J&J’s baby powder throughout his childhood.
A California jury decided that he is entitled to compensation for his medical bills and suffering but passed on punitive damages against J&J, multiple news outlets have reported. The jury awarded $18.8 million in damages to the plaintiff.
J&J has pledged appeal based on “erroneous rulings” by the trial judge, J&J’s worldwide vice president of litigation Erik Haas said in a statement. The rulings blocked J&J from presenting some facts that the company says show that the plaintiff's “exceedingly rare” form of mesothelioma was not caused by its products.
“Without the benefit of that evidence, the verdict is irreconcilable with the decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer,” Haas added.
Meanwhile, the verdict has “absolutely no impact” on the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings surrounding J&J's talc litigation, Haas noted.
Now, the company has suffered 10 talc trial losses out of 42 trials so far. The cases it has lost are either on appeal or have been resolved. The remaining 32 ended in a J&J win, a mistrial or verdicts that were reversed in appeals.
And last week, the company went after doctors who have claimed a link between its talc-based products and cancer. The doctors have all been called to testify in talc cases and their studies have been used as evidence in personal injury claims. J&J claimed in a complaint that the doctors have made "careers and small fortunes" testifying for plaintiffs in asbestos trials.