After a 13-day trial, a Minnesota jury has ordered consumer giant Johnson & Johnson to pay $65.5 million to a young victim diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma. At just 37 years old, Anna Jean Houghton Carley is an unusually young victim of the rare asbestos-related disease. She blames years of using the company’s baby powder for her illness.
Young Mesothelioma Victim is a Wife and Mother of Three
The victim is a wife and mother of three, and that fact likely had an impact on the Ramsey County District Court jury, as the award Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay is believed to be the largest asbestos-related verdict in Minnesota history. Over nearly two weeks, the jurors heard testimony that Johnson & Johnson sold and marketed talc-based products to consumers despite knowing the talc-based powder could be contaminated with asbestos. Mrs. Carley’s legal team argued that her family had never been warned about these potential dangers while using the product on her during her childhood. The product was taken off the shelves in the United States in 2020.
Mrs. Carley’s mesothelioma lawsuit focused on more than just financial compensation. While arguing on her behalf, her attorneys asserted that the case was about truth and accountability after Johnson & Johnson prioritized revenue and company profits over people, despite knowing the dangers. The $65.5 million compensatory award addresses Mrs. Carley’s past and future losses, though it does not make up for the pain and suffering that Carley, her husband Mike, and her three children will endure because of her terminal diagnosis.
Mesothelioma and Ovarian Cancer Verdicts Against J&J Continue Mounting
Mrs. Carley filed her lawsuit in March 2025 after being diagnosed with mesothelioma earlier this year. Hers is not the first multi-million dollar award handed down by juries across the nation. Recent litigation against the company has produced multiple massive verdicts in recent months, with a Los Angeles jury awarding $40 million in December 2025 to two women who claimed the company’s talcum powder caused their ovarian cancer, while an October 2025 California jury ordered the company to pay $966 million to the family of another woman who blamed her mesothelioma on using the company’s baby powder.
The Minnesota verdict represents the latest development in a longstanding legal battle over claims that talc in Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower body powder is connected to ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. Despite having removed talc-based baby powder from U.S. shelves in 2020 and discontinuing global sales of powder made with talc in 2023, the company maintains its products are safe and plans to appeal the Minnesota verdict.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, or asbestos-related lung cancer, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net at 1-800-692-8608 to learn more.
