Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $966 million in latest talc cancer case

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Source: CNN Business/Reuters

PUBLISHED Oct 8, 2025, 7:05 AM ET


Reuters — A Los Angeles jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $966 million to the family of a woman who died from mesothelioma, finding the company liable in the latest trial alleging its talc products cause cancer. The family of Mae Moore, a California resident who died at age 88 in 2021, sued the company the same year, claiming J&J’s talc baby powder products contained asbestos fibers that caused her rare cancer.

The jury late on Monday ordered J&J (JNJ) to pay $16 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages, according to court filings. The verdict could be reduced on appeal as the US Supreme Court has found that punitive damages should generally be no more than nine times compensatory damages.

Erik Haas, J&J’s worldwide vice-president of litigation, said in a statement that the company plans to immediately appeal, calling the verdict “egregious and unconstitutional.” “The plaintiff lawyers in this Moore case based their arguments on ‘junk science’ that never should have been presented to the jury,” Haas said.

The company has said its products are safe, do not contain asbestos and do not cause cancer. J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the United States in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product. Mesothelioma has been linked to asbestos exposure.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/08/business/johnson-and-johnson-liable-cancer-case-intl