California Woman Awarded $70M in Baby Powder Lawsuit

A St. Louis jury has awarded $70 million to a woman in California who developed ovarian cancer after decades of using Johnson’s Baby Powder for feminine hygiene.

Free Confidential Lawsuit Evaluation: If you got cancer after using Johnson’s Baby Powder, Shower-to-Shower or other talcum powder product, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a suit and our lawyers can help.

What’s the Problem?

November 1, 2016 - The jury ruled that plaintiff Deborah Giannecchini is owed $575,000 in economic damages and $2 million in compensatory damages for her injuries. Additionally, they said that Johnson & Johnson should pay $65 million in punitive damages, while talc supplier Imerys Talc America Inc. should pay $2.5 million.

The award falls short of what Giannecchini had originally demanded -- over $285 million in total -- but is still among the stiffest penalties ever leveled against Johnson & Johnson. In February, a St. Louis Circuit Court jury found that J&J failed to warn the public and conspired to hide the truth about the health risks of its talcum powder products, awarding the family of Jackie Fox $10 million in actual damages and $62 million in punitive damages.

Giannecchini alleged in her complaint that J&J casually dismissed the talcum powder cancer link and actively falsified medical records to hide it. The massive award was necessary to force the healthcare giant to change its ways, according to the lawsuit.

Related Article: Shower-to-Shower Baby Powder Lawsuit

The suit further alleged that J&J had been urged since at least 1982 to include warning labels on its talcum powder products but failed to do so, leading to Giannecchini’s Stage 4 ovarian cancer and resulting complications that have greatly reduced her life expectancy.

As a result of her injuries, Giannecchini was forced to have many organs removed, including her spleen, part of her stomach and colon, as well as her ovaries and uterus. If there had been a warning on the labeling of Johnson’s Baby Powder not to use it on the genitals, she would not have done it and wouldn’t have gotten cancer, according to the lawsuit.

Other Johnson's baby powder lawsuits:

• Talcum Powder Cancer Lawsuit in California
• Johnson’s Baby Powder Lawsuit Filed in West Virginia
• Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Ovarian Cancer Suit St. Louis

See all related product liability lawsuits our attorneys covered so far.

Do I Have a Baby Powder Lawsuit?

The Pharmaceutical Litigation Group at Schmidt & Clark, LLP law firm is an experienced team of trial lawyers that focus on the representation of plaintiffs in baby powder lawsuits. We are handling individual litigation nationwide and currently accepting new injury and death cases in all 50 states.

Free Case Evaluation: Again, if you got cancer from talcum powder, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to a settlement by filing a suit and we can help.