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Johnson & Johnson and its consumer health spinoff, Kenvue, were ordered to pay $45 million to the family of an Illinois woman who alleged the companies’ talcum-based baby powder gave her a fatal cancer.

Following a trial in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., a jury concluded April 19 that Kenvue was 70% responsible for the death of Theresa Garcia. The mother of six and grandmother died four years ago after developing mesothelioma.

Johnson & Johnson Holdco Inc., a subsidiary of the New Brunswick-based pharmaceutical and medical technologies company, was found responsible for the remaining 30%, according to a press release from Dean Omar Branham Shirley. That law firm represented the woman’s family.

During proceedings, the firm said its attorneys demonstrated that the talc-containing products made by J&J included asbestos fibers and that the “daily use and amount inhaled” by Garcia throughout her life led to mesothelioma.

“After years of delay caused by Johnson & Johnson’s bad faith abuse of the bankruptcy system, we are so grateful that the jury saw through Johnson & Johnson’s, Johnson & Johnson Holdco, Inc.’s and Kenvue, Inc.’s deceptions. The defendants knew that talc contains asbestos impurities that were mined and put in the bottles of baby powder J&J sold,” commented Jessica Dean, one of the attorneys representing the family. “Not only did the defendants’ negligence and deceit cheat loyal customers like Theresa, but their deception has ultimately robbed a family of their mother.”

‘False narratives’

In a statement, J&J Worldwide Vice President of Litigation Erik Haas said the company will immediately appeal. “[A]nd we expect to prevail as we typically do with aberrant adverse verdicts that have no basis in the law or science and are predicated on clearly erroneous rulings by the trial court — as happened recently when the $223 million award was vacated by the New Jersey appellate court,” Haas said.

The ruling in Chicago came a day after J&J won a similar lawsuit in Florida. In that case, a jury decided the company’s baby powder did not lead to the ovarian cancer diagnosis of Patricia Matthey, who used the product daily and died in 2019.

Haas described the Chicago verdict as “irreconcilable with the decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming talc is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer.”

“For that reason, the vast majority of juries – including a jury that rendered a defense verdict yesterday – have rejected the false narratives regarding talc advanced by plaintiff law firms. Indeed, the contrived opinions of the purported ‘experts’ presented by plaintiff’s counsel in this case should have been excluded by the judge and never should have been allowed to go to the jury,” Haas said.

Two-step

J&J is also continuing to mull a third bankruptcy filing to resolve the more than 50,000 talc claims it faces. Haas told shareholders during a third quarter earnings call in October 2023 the company is “pursuing a consensual resolution of the talc claims through another bankruptcy,” while continuing to “vigorously defend itself” in the remaining cases.

In July 2023, Judge Michael Kaplan in Trenton nixed J&J’s second bankruptcy attempt. Kaplan ruled that LTL Management, a subsidiary created to handle the talc claims, is not eligible for Chapter 11 because the company is not in financial distress. That returned the cases back to the civil tort system.

A Third Circuit Court of Appeals panel in Philadelphia dismissed LTL’s first bankruptcy filing in January 2023. That court ruled that neither J&J nor its subsidiary was in dire financial straits. Three months later, LTL tried again to use the strategy, known as the Texas two-step. At that time, the company filed again for Chapter 11. It also proposed an $8.9 billion settlement to resolve current and future claims.

J&J continues to maintain that its products are safe. It pulled its talc-based baby powders off the market in the U.S. and Canada three years ago, replacing them with a cornstarch-based version. J&J also vowed to stop selling all talc-based baby powders worldwide by the end of 2023.

Mixed results

As part of the separation of its consumer health business, J&J agreed in April 2023 to retain all talc-related liabilities and indemnify Kenvue for any and all costs arising from litigation in the U.S. and Canada.

Now a private company, Kenvue’s portfolio includes Johnson & Johnson baby powder, Aveeno, Band-Aid, Listerine, Neutrogena and Tylenol.

A spokesperson for Kenvue declined to comment to NJBIZ Monday morning about the verdict in the Garcia case.

Talc-related lawsuits have had a mixed record.

Major plaintiff wins include a $2.1 billion judgment in 2021 awarded to 22 women with ovarian cancer. However, J&J has also won reversals of some cases — such as a $117 million verdict in the same New Jersey appeals court and a $120 million verdict in New York.

In October 2023, a federal appeals court tossed out a $223 million jury award to four mesothelioma patients from New Jersey, finding the testimony of the plaintiffs’ expert unsound.

J&J has also recently settled some cases involving plaintiffs with mesothelioma. The company has not provided details about the dollar amounts involved or said how many people they covered.