On Tuesday, Missouri Supreme Court refused Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) appeal to review an intermediate appellate court decision of a $2.12 billion damages verdict awarded to women who claimed the company's baby powder and other talc products for their ovarian cancer.
In August, J&J applied for transfer from the Missouri Court of Appeals, stating that the lower courts misapplied the law and improperly combined nearly two dozen cases from around the country into a single trial despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibiting the practice.
The initial verdict favoring a group of 22 women was given in July 2018 by a state court jury. J&J appealed over the decision, following which the Missouri appeals court upheld the jury’s finding of liability but slashed the $4.69 billion damages award in June 2020.
J&J indicated that it plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and also said that it would set aside a $2.1 billion reserve for the verdict to be reflected in its year-end financial results.
Last month, the pharmaceutical giant agreed to pay over $100 million to resolve about 1,000 lawsuits over its talcum powder products brought by at least three law firms, which include Simmons Hanly Conroy, Simon Greenstone Panatier PC, and the Lanier Law Firm.
Currently, J&J faces more than 21,000 Baby Powder and Shower-to-Shower lawsuits, each raising similar allegations about the presence of asbestos and the risk of cancer.
