A Missouri appeals court rejected Johnson & Johnson’s bid to throw out a jury verdict in favor of women who blamed their ovarian cancer on the company’s baby powder and other talc products, but reduced its damages award to $2.12 billion from $4.69 billion.
Johnson & Johnson was ordered by a New Jersey state jury to pay punitive damages of $750 million to four plaintiffs who allege that the company’s Baby Powder caused their cancer, a ruling that will be reduced to around $185 million because of state laws, according to a lawyer for the plaintiffs and J&J.
Bayer shares fell by as much as 5 percent after a California couple were awarded more than $2 billion in the largest U.S. jury penalty over allegations the company’s Roundup weed killer causes cancer.
A California jury awarded $29 million to a woman who said abestos in Johnson & Johnson’s talcum-powder-based products caused her cancer.
