Minnesota jury awards $65.5 million to woman who used Johnson & Johnson talcum powder

A Minnesota jury on Friday awarded $65.5 million to Anna Jean Houghton Carley, a 37-year-old mother of three who says talc-based Johnson & Johnson products exposed her to asbestos and contributed to mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs. During a 13-day trial in Ramsey County District Court, jurors found that Johnson & Johnson should compensate Carley after she used its baby powder throughout childhood and later developed mesothelioma.

Carley's lawyers argued that the pharmaceutical giant sold and marketed talc-based products to consumers despite knowing they could be contaminated with asbestos, and that her family was never warned about potential dangers while using the product on their child. The product was taken off shelves in the United States in 2020. "This case was not about compensation only. It was about truth and accountability," Carley's attorney Ben Braly said.

Erik Haas, Johnson & Johnson's worldwide vice president of litigation, argued the company's baby powder is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer, and he said he expects an appellate court to reverse the decision.

The verdict is the latest development in a longstanding legal battle over claims that talc in Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower body powder was connected to ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, which can affect the lungs and other organs. Johnson & Johnson stopped selling powder made with talc worldwide in 2023. Haas said these lawsuits are predicated on ’junk science,’ refuted by decades of studies that demonstrate Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.

Earlier this month, a Los Angeles jury awarded $40 million to two women who claimed Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder caused their ovarian cancer. And in October, another California jury ordered the company to pay $966 million to the family of a woman who died of mesothelioma, claiming she developed the cancer because the baby powder she used was contaminated with asbestos.

Johnson & Johnson said it would appeal the verdict.