Washington (AFP)
The Missouri Court of Appeal upheld the verdict that talc sold by the American pharmaceutical group Johnson & Johnson was responsible for cancers and ordered the American pharmaceutical giant to pay $ 2.1 billion in damages.
However, the court cut more than half the $ 4.4 billion in damages awarded by a jury in 2018 to 22 complainants and their families. She agreed that some of them should not have been included in the trial because they were outside the state of Missouri.
But Tuesday's ruling upheld the damages that the pharmaceutical and hygiene group will have to pay for "knowingly selling asbestos-containing products to consumers."
"Because the defendants are large corporations weighing billions of dollars, we believe that a significant amount of punitive damages is necessary to have effect in this case," said the court.
"It is impossible to assign a monetary value to the physical, mental and emotional anguish suffered by the complainants because of the damage inflicted by the defendants", she continues.
The complainants claim that the use of Johnson & Johnson talcum powder for their personal hygiene had caused ovarian cancer.
A spokesperson for the group said it would appeal the decision to the Missouri Supreme Court, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The hygiene products company has faced thousands of complaints in recent years accusing its talcum powder of containing asbestos and causing cancer, and has been convicted on several occasions.
Johnson & Johnson has always claimed that its baby powder does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.
Last May, the group announced that it would stop selling this talc powder in the United States and Canada, countries where sales have declined due to changing habits and mistrust of -vis the product.
It intends to continue selling it to the rest of the world.
© 2020 AFP