A jury on Tuesday ruled that Johnson & Johnson must pay $18.8 million to a California man who claimed he contracted cancer after using the company’s baby powder. As he works to settle thousands of lawsuits like this one involving his talc-based products in US bankruptcy court, this is a blow to the company.
Who is Emory Hernandez Valadez?
In Oakland last year, Emory Hernandez Valadez, who sued J&J in California state court, won the jury’s decision. He was seeking money damages. Hernandez, 24, says that in his early years, heavy exposure to the company’s talc led to the development of mesothelioma, a fatal malignancy, in the tissue surrounding his heart. Based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the six-week trial was the first talc-related case J&J had to deal with in more than two years. To cover medical costs, agony and suffering for Hernandez, enough was determined to be entitled to damages by the court, but the jury decided not to award the company punitive damages. Because a bankruptcy court decision blocked most of J&J’s talc litigation, Hernandez won’t be able to collect on the judgment any time soon.
- On baby powder suits, J&J must pay $18.8 million to California cancer patients.
- The jury found that Hernandez was entitled to damages to compensate him for his pain and medical expenses.
- The jury found in favor of Emory Hernández Valadez, who filed a lawsuit last year.
According to J&J Vice President of Litigation Erik Haas, the verdict is “irreconcilable with decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming that Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.” The corporation has announced that it will appeal the decision. On July 10, J&J’s lawyers asserted that there was no evidence that Hernández had ever been exposed to contaminated talc or that Hernández’s specific type of mesothelioma was related to asbestos in their closing remarks. For covering up asbestos contamination for many years in a “contemptible” manner, Hernandez’s lawyers charged J&J.
Numerous lawsuits have claimed that other talc products and J&J baby powder occasionally contained asbestos and contributed to ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. Its talc products are asbestos-free and hazard-free, which has been associated with mesothelioma, according to J&J. Since Hernandez’s type of mesothelioma is fairly rare, his case stands out from the vast majority of others against J & J. The costs of the talc-related lawsuits, legal fees and J&J settlements reportedly totaled approximately $4.5 billion, according to bankruptcy court records.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn