The family of an 88-year-old woman who died of mesothelioma received a mix decsion regarding the $966 million a jury had ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay them. Though a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge allowed the $16 million in compensatory damages verdict to stand, she eliminated the jury’s ordered $950 million in punitive damages. The judge ruled that the pharmaceutical giant did not act with malice.
Despite Stripping Millions in Punitive Damages, $16 Mesothelioma Verdict Stands
After the jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay mesothelioma victim Mae Moore’s estate $16 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages, the company filed a motion to have both the punitive damages and the compensatory damages eliminated. After review, Judge Ruth Ann Kwan decided that the victim’s family “did not establish—by clear and convincing evidence—that J&J acted with malice.” Though the punitive damages were eliminated, the family’s $16 million award stands.
Mrs. Moore died of mesothelioma in 2021, but before her death, she filed a lawsuit asserting that the J&J products she’d used since the 1930s on herself and her children had caused her illness. Her family continued the claim, saying she’d been “exposed to asbestos on a regular and frequent basis” and that “dust from the asbestos-containing talcum powder products permeated her person and clothing.”
Mesothelioma Jury Decision Overturned
The jury hearing the case found that J&J’s talc products contained asbestos and that Moore’s use contributed to her mesothelioma. They also concluded that J&J was negligent, its negligence was a substantial factor causing Moore’s mesothelioma, and its Baby Powder and Shower to Shower products had possible risks known to the scientific community at the time they were being manufactured. The jury also found J&J failed to warn consumers of the risks, that J&J intended to deceive by concealing facts, and that the concealment had been a substantial factor in her mesothelioma.
While Judge Kwan granted J&J’s request on the punitive damages award, she denied the company’s request on causation, allowing the mesothelioma compensatory damages to stand. The mesothelioma ruling dramatically reduces J&J’s liability in this case, but despite the jury’s findings that J&J’s talc products caused Moore’s fatal mesothelioma, the company stated it “will now pursue an appeal of all remaining claims”—potentially seeking to eliminate even the $16 million compensatory damages the judge allowed to stand.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net are here to help. For more information, contact us at 1-800-692-8608.
