Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Another Jury Finds Fault With Johnson & Johnson Over Baby Powder Product
Bloomberg: Asbestos In Talc Products Verdict Means J&J, Imerys Owe Millions
Johnson & Johnson and a talc-mining company were ordered by jurors to pay $80 million in punitive damages for hiding that their products, including J&J’s iconic baby powder, had been tainted by asbestos and posed a cancer risk. The New Jersey jury’s award brings to a total of $117 million that J&J and a unit of Imerys SA must pay investment banker Stephen Lanzo III over his claims the companies’ asbestos-laced talc products caused his cancer in what may be a precedent-setting case for U.S. talc litigation. (Feeley and Fisk, 4/11)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Baby Powder Nets Banker With Cancer An $80M Verdict
The jury’s decision was the first to find that the health-care company’s baby powder led to a mesothelioma diagnosis and the first talcum powder case to involve a male plaintiff. More than 6,600 women have filed suit claiming the firm’s product caused them to contract ovarian cancer. (Wood, 4/11)
