J&J faces more than 14,000 claims that its powders caused ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer linked to asbestos exposure. The company denies that its products ever contained the carcinogen and argues that talc doesn’t cause the life-threatening illnesses, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
READ MORE: 92 Peruvian Kids Poisoned by Glyphosate, Ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup
On Tuesday, a South Carolina jury concluded that J&J wasn’t liable for a woman’s mesothelioma that she blamed on asbestos in the company’s baby powder.
The company’s record at trial has been reportedly mixed. J&J lost a $29-million jury award in a California mesothelioma case 13 March but won a New Jersey trial 27 March, the same day it settled three cases.
J&J also won in California on 5 April. Trials are ongoing in California and South Carolina as well.
READ MORE: US Court Awards Farmer $80 Million from Monsanto in Roundup ‘Bellwether’ Trial
Johnson & Johnson has reportedly won six defence verdicts. Jurors deadlocked in three cases. The company settled four cases. Some of the plaintiffs’ verdicts have been overturned; others are still on appeal, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.