As courtroom losses mount, J&J seeks to limit reputational damage

Johnson & Johnson hopes to win a potentially existential argument in the court of public opinion, despite mounting losses in the courtroom.

The company this week was ordered to pay $29 million to a woman who says the asbestos in her baby powder gave her cancer. J&J promises to appeal, citing procedural and evidentiary errors. If the company can’t right the ship, the costs could become staggering, with thousands of lawsuits remaining unresolved.

Reuters reported:

“We respect the legal process and reiterate that jury verdicts are not medical, scientific or regulatory conclusions about a product,” J&J said in a statement on Wednesday.

The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company denies that its talc causes cancer, saying numerous studies and tests by regulators worldwide have shown that its talc is safe and asbestos-free.

The lawsuit was brought by Terry Leavitt, who said she used Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower – another powder containing talc sold by J&J in the past – in the 1960s and 1970s and was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2017. It was the first of more than a dozen J&J talc cases scheduled for trial in 2019. The nine-week trial began on Jan. 7 and included testimony from nearly a dozen experts on both sides.