**Why Johnson & Johnson Has Been Fined $966 Million in the US**
*By Dwaipayan Roy | Oct 08, 2025 | 05:15 PM*
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**What’s the story?**
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has been ordered by a Los Angeles jury to pay $966 million to the family of Mae Moore, an 88-year-old California resident who died from mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, in 2021. The jury found the company liable in a trial linking its talc products to cancer. The family filed the lawsuit the same year.
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**Verdict details**
The jury awarded $16 million in compensatory damages and a staggering $950 million in punitive damages. Erik Haas, J&J’s Global Vice President of Litigation, said the company plans to appeal the decision. He described the verdict as “egregious and unconstitutional,” asserting that “the plaintiff lawyers in this Moore case based their arguments on ‘junk science’ that never should have been presented to the jury.”
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**Product safety**
Despite the ruling, Johnson & Johnson maintains that its talc products are safe and do not contain asbestos or cause cancer. The company stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020, switching to a cornstarch-based product instead.
It’s important to note that mesothelioma has been linked to asbestos exposure. Trey Branham, an attorney representing Moore’s family, expressed hope that “Johnson & Johnson will finally accept responsibility for these senseless deaths.”
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**Ongoing litigation**
Johnson & Johnson is currently facing over 67,000 lawsuits from plaintiffs alleging that they developed cancer after using baby powder and other talc products. The majority of these cases involve ovarian cancer claims, with mesothelioma lawsuits forming a smaller subset.
The company has attempted to resolve the litigation through bankruptcy proceedings but has had three proposals rejected by federal courts.
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**Settlement history and recent trials**
While J&J has settled some mesothelioma claims, it has not reached a nationwide settlement. As a result, many mesothelioma lawsuits have recently gone to trial in state courts.
In the past year, the company has faced several major verdicts related to mesothelioma, with Monday’s ruling being among the largest. However, Johnson & Johnson has successfully reduced some awards on appeal, including overturning a $260 million verdict by a state judge in Oregon.
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*This ruling marks a significant development in the ongoing legal battles surrounding talc products and their alleged health risks.*
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/business/j-j-hit-with-966m-verdict-in-talc-cancer-trial/story
