A Missouri appeals court threw out a $72million award to an Alabama woman who claimed her use of Johnson & Johnson products that contained talcum powder contributed to her ovarian cancer.
The Missouri Eastern District Court ruled on Tuesday that the lawsuit filed by Jacqueline Fox, 62, of Birmingham, Alabama, lacked jurisdiction.
The appeals court cited a Supreme Court ruling in June that placed limits on where injury lawsuits could be filed, saying state courts cannot hear claims against companies not based in the state where alleged injuries occurred.
A Missouri appeals court threw out a $72million award given to the late Jacqueline Fox, 62, of Birmingham, Alabama (pictured, left, with her son), claiming that her lawsuit lacked jurisdiction
Fox filed a lawsuit claiming Johnson & Johnson baby powder, which she used for feminine hygiene for about 25 years, contributed to her cancer.
She died in 2015, about four months before her case went to trial in St Louis Circuit Court. In February 2016, a jury awarded Fox $10million in actual damages and $62million in punitive damages – the first award in the lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson.
More than 1,000 others have filed similar lawsuits in St Louis against Johnson & Johnson, which is based in Brunswick, New Jersey. In four of five trials held so far, jurors awarded more than $300million combined. Only two of the 64 cases attached to Fox’s case lived in Missouri.
However, a Supreme Court ruling in June involving pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb may change these awards. The ruling states a lawsuit’s jurisdiction requires a stronger connection between the forum state and a plaintiff’s claims.
Johnson & Johnson has appealed all the awards against it and says its products are safe. A spokeswoman said after Tuesday’s ruling that the company is confident its appeals will be successful.
‘In the cases involving non-resident plaintiffs who sued in the state of Missouri, we consistently argued that there was no jurisdiction and we expect the existing verdicts that we are appealing to be reversed,’ spokeswoman Carole Goodrich said in a statement.
Jim Onder, who is representing many plaintiffs in the lawsuits, has argued that Missouri is a proper jurisdiction because Johnson & Johnson packages and labels some products in Missouri.
Fox was one of 65 people who filed a lawsuit claiming that Johnson & Johnson baby powder (pictured) containing talcum powder is carcinogenic – or cancer-causing
Onder told The St Louis Post-Dispatch that the Supreme Court sent the Bristol case back to California state court and he is confident the Missouri Supreme Court will do the same.
Within days of the Supreme Court ruling, a mistrial was declared in a Missouri state court in another lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson that involved three plaintiffs, two from out of state. That trial has not yet been rescheduled.
Talcum powder is made from talc, a soft mineral that is widely used in personal care products to absorb moisture and for other products including paint and plastics.
Most research has established no link or a weak one between ovarian cancer and using baby powder for feminine hygiene, and most major health groups have said talc is harmless.
However, some smaller studies have found a small link and the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies genital use of talc as ‘possibly carcinogenic’.