Jury Awards $70M in Johnson and Johnson Talcum Powder Case

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – After hours of deliberation, a St. Louis jury has came to a verdict in the new Johnson and Johnson case. Deborah Giannecchini of California was awarded more than $70 million on Thursday. She likely won’t survive the next two years, but her attorney, Jim Onder, says the verdict sends a message.

“The families that we’ve represented are not in it for the money,” Onder says. “They’re in it to save the lives of others…and to force Johnson and Johnson to do the right thing.”

Johnson and Johnson is forced to pay $65 million. Imerys, the company that supplied the talcum powder, is out $2.5 million – even though it warned Johnson and Johnson of the potential danger. Johnson and Johnson has, and continues, to claim there’s no scientific evidence linking them with health problems.

“There are over 20 medical journal articles,” Onder says. “The fact that they say that the science does not support it, is nothing short of an outright lie.”

Onder says about 4,000 similar cases against Johnson and Johnson are pending. Giannecchini is represented by The Onder Law Firm. As previously reported, Jury deliberations are now underway in a major consumer product liability trial in St. Louis.

A woman is seeking $275 million in costs and damages against Johnson and Johnson, blaming the company’s baby powder for her ovarian cancer. The woman’s attorney told the jury she’s had her ovaries, colon and spleen removed from using talcum products – products Johnson and Johnson knew were a risk, because the supplier has been labeling talc a cancer risk since 1982, but Johnson and Johnson never passed along the warning to consumers.

An attorney for Johnson and Johnson stressed there is no scientific evidence linking talc and cancer, and he asked the jury to not listen to “that dark side of your heart that thinks everybody’s a conspirator.”

KMOX’s Kevin Killeen was in the courtroom Thursday:

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