Krystal Kim believes the Shower-to-Shower she used to “cut down on smells” for over 40 years was laced with asbestos leading to her ovarian cancer surgery in 2014. Kim’s asbestos-related talcum powder case is one of 22 facing a jury in St. Louis this month hoping to prove that their illnesses came from exposure to asbestos in Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder.
There are currently no federal regulations requiring that cosmetic-grade talcum powder product be asbestos-free, but Johnson & Johnson continues to deny the existence of asbestos in talc.
Below is a sampling of several recent lawsuits that have resulted in verdicts where juries have faced the question of whether asbestos is present in talcum powder:
- November 15, 2017 – A Los Angeles, CA jury rules in favor of Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit brought by Tina Herford, a woman who claimed she developed mesothelioma after using J&J talcum powder products throughout her lifetime.
- April 4, 2018 – A Middlesex County, New Jersey jury orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $117 million in damages to Stephen Lanzo, a banker who developed mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos through his regular use of talc-based products since his birth in 1972.
- May 24, 2018 – Los Angeles Superior Court awarded $25 million in damages to Joanne Anderson, an avid bowler diagnosed with mesothelioma that she said came from breathing in thousands of applications talcum powder used to dry her hands for 25 years.
- May 29th, 2018 – A South Carolina judge declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision in the case of Bertila Boyd-Bostic, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma alleged to be from her use of talcum powder from birth to her death at age 31. Bostic’s case will likely be retried.
As a batch of similar asbestos-related talcum powder cases make their way through the courts, we will continue to watch the St. Louis cases and provide updates.