In a groundbreaking verdict, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has been ordered to pay $18.8 million in damages to a California man, Emory Hernandez Valadez, who claimed that the company’s baby powder caused him to develop mesothelioma, a rare and deadly cancer. The decision comes as a significant setback for the pharmaceutical giant, which is currently facing thousands of similar cases related to its talc-based products in US bankruptcy court. Hernandez, 24, filed the lawsuit last year in California state court, alleging that his lifelong exposure to J&J’s talc led to the development of mesothelioma in the tissue around his heart.
The six-week trial marked the first time in nearly two years that the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company faced a talc-related case in court. The jury ruled in favor of Hernandez, awarding him damages to compensate for his medical expenses and pain and suffering. However, they declined to impose punitive damages against J&J. Despite the verdict, Hernandez is unlikely to collect the judgment anytime soon, as a bankruptcy court order has frozen most litigation over J&J’s talc. Reacting to the outcome, J&J’s vice president of litigation, Erik Haas, stated that the company intends to appeal the verdict.
Haas argued that the decision was inconsistent with decades of scientific evaluations that confirmed the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder, asserting that it neither contains asbestos nor causes cancer. Throughout the trial, J&J’s defense emphasized that there was no evidence linking Hernandez’s type of mesothelioma to asbestos or proving his exposure to contaminated talc. In contrast, Hernandez’s legal team accused the company of concealing asbestos contamination for decades, characterizing it as a “despicable” coverup. During his testimony in June, Hernandez revealed that he would have avoided J&J’s talc if he had been warned about its potential asbestos content.
His mother, Anna Camacho, tearfully recounted using significant amounts of the baby powder on her son during his infancy and childhood. The talc lawsuits against J&J have been mounting, with tens of thousands of plaintiffs alleging that the company’s talc products, including baby powder, contained asbestos, leading to ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. J&J, however, maintains that its talc products are safe and asbestos-free. In an attempt to resolve the talc claims, J&J subsidiary LTL Management filed for bankruptcy in April, proposing a $8.9 billion settlement for over 38,000 lawsuits while aiming to prevent new cases from emerging.
This was the company’s second bankruptcy filing related to talc claims, with a previous attempt rejected by a federal appeals court. Though most litigation was put on hold during bankruptcy proceedings, Hernandez’s trial was allowed to proceed due to his limited life expectancy, given the rarity of his form of mesothelioma, distinguishing it from the majority of cases against J&J.
Asbestos plaintiffs have sought to dismiss LTL’s latest bankruptcy filing, alleging it was made in bad faith to shield the company from legal action. However, J&J and LTL contend that bankruptcy offers a fairer and more efficient mechanism for delivering settlement payouts to plaintiffs compared to trial courts, which they likened to a “lottery” with inconsistent awards. According to bankruptcy court filings, J&J has already faced substantial costs related to talc verdicts, settlements, and legal fees, amounting to approximately $4.5 billion.