Overview
- The Los Angeles Superior Court jury returned a liability verdict Friday awarding $40 million in compensatory damages over claims linking Johnson’s talc products to ovarian cancer.
- Jurors awarded $18 million to Monica Kent and $22 million to Deborah Schultz and her husband.
- Court records show Kent was diagnosed in 2014 and Schultz in 2018 after decades of using Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower.
- J&J said the findings conflict with decades of independent reviews, asserted its products are safe and asbestos‑free, cited prior trial wins, and will challenge the ruling.
- The case is part of roughly 67,000 talc claims nationwide after a judge rejected J&J’s proposed $9 billion bankruptcy settlement; the company ended global talc sales in 2023 and a separate California jury issued a $966 million mesothelioma award in October.