Johnson & Johnson's Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky was called for the first time in the court, to testify in the lawsuit of the company's baby powder, causing cancer.
The lawsuit filed at a state courtroom in New Brunswick, New Jersey, near the company’s headquarters included three men and one woman. According to the lawsuit, all four plaintiffs are suffering from mesothelioma, a rare and incurable cancer. All four plaintiffs claim that they contracted cancer due to their exposure to asbestos in baby powder, which was applied when they were infants.
The jury held J&J liable for the plaintiffs’ cancers and awarded them $37.2 million in compensation in the early phase of the trial. Now the lawyers for plaintiffs are seeking to persuade a second jury claiming that punitive damages are necessary for the reckless behavior of J&J.
Gorsky testified that he was not aware of the safety measures of the powder as the issue can be traced back in 2012 before he joined the company. The attorneys for J&J responded to the statement by saying that they will look into the issue, which might result in dragging the previous executives to the court.
Currently, J&J faces 16,000 lawsuits against their baby powder. Lawsuits claim that the company failed to warn users about the contamination of powder because of asbestos.
