By Joe Fantini July 3, 2019

Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay a New York woman and her husband $325 Million in compensatory and punitive damages. A Manhattan jury determined that Johnson & Johnson’s talc powder played a critical role in Donna Olson’s devastating mesothelioma diagnosis. Mesothelioma is a type of cancer traditionally associated with asbestos exposure. Studies show that Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products have been contaminated with asbestos.

Olson’s Daily Talc Powder Use and Mesothelioma Diagnosis

Donna Olson says that she’s used Johnson & Johnson (J&J) talc products throughout her entire life. As a child, her mother applied J&J baby powder after every daily bath. In the summer, her mother dusted her with baby powder an additional two to three times a day to control sweating and moisture.

After Olson turned eight, she used Johnson & Johnson talcum powder every day after a shower or bath. She applied it liberally to her chest and under her arms, shaking the bottle “a total of three or four times” for each application. This created a cloud of dust that she inevitably inhaled.

When Olson was older, she switched from J&J baby powder to the company’s Shower to Shower product. She applied the Shower to Shower powder the same way she used baby powder. Olson only stopped using the J&J products when she heard about the potential link between talc powder and ovarian cancer.

Olson maintains that none of the Johnson & Johnson products she used contained warnings about the risk of developing ovarian cancer or mesothelioma.

Bombshell Documents Reveal J&J Has Known About Asbestos Contamination for Decades

In 2018, Reuters published an article exposing the fact that Johnson & Johnson had knowledge that its talc products were contaminated with asbestos. Internal studies performed by J&J – ranging from 1957 to the mid-2000s – identified asbestos and other contaminants in the talc used to make the company’s popular baby powder.

Despite these lab results, Johnson & Johnson advertised its talc products as safe and failed to warn consumers about potential health risks. This, thousands of talc injury lawsuits claim, has caused unimaginable pain and suffering for many loyal customers.

Jurors continue to side with injured talc users, based, in part, on this evidence. The fact that Johnson & Johnson knew about the asbestos, but intentionally misled consumers, is probably the reason why juries are extending such high punitive awards.

There Is No Safe Level of Exposure to Asbestos

The World Health Organization maintains that any exposure to asbestos is dangerous. Even the slightest exposure can have devastating consequences. Mesothelioma is a very rare form of cancer that typically occurs after exposure to asbestos. Talc products often generate a cloud of dust when they’re used. When talc powder is contaminated with traces of asbestos, the dangerous fibers are easily inhaled.

Johnson & Johnson currently faces more than 14,000 talc injury lawsuits. Plaintiffs suffering from mesothelioma, like Donna Olson, claim that the only possible way they could have been exposed to asbestos was by using J&J talc products.