Company to pay £51m after woman dies from allegedly using baby powder

Europa

February 24, 2016 1:54 PM

A St. Louis circuit court in US has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay £51 million damages to the family of a woman whose death linked to her use of the company's baby power.

Johnson & Johnson to pay £51m after woman dies from allegedly using baby powder

A St. Louis circuit court in US has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay £51 million damages to the family of a woman whose death linked to her use of the company's baby power.

The woman, Jacqueline Fox, died at the age of 62 in October after being diagnosed of ovarian cancer.

Jurors, on Monday night, awarded the family of the deceased £7 million of actual damages and £44 million of punitive damages, according to Mirror.co.uk.

This was after a three-week trial with the last deliberations lasting for several hours.

Speaking on a conference call with journalists, Jere Beasley, a lawyer for Fox's family, said Johnson & Johnson "knew as far back as the 1980s of the risk," and yet resorted to "lying to the public, lying to the regulatory agencies."

But, Carol Goodrich, a Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman, said: "We have no higher responsibility than the health and safety of consumers, and we are disappointed with the outcome of the trial.

"We sympathize with the plaintiff's family but firmly believe the safety of cosmetic talc is supported by decades of scientific evidence," she added.

Meanwhile, this verdict is the first by a U.S. jury to award damages over claims that the baby powder could cause cancer.

Johnson & Johnson have over the years been accused of failing to warn consumers that its talc-based products could cause cancer, for fear of losing sales.

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