J&J Ordered by Jury to Pay $260 Million to Baby Powder User

Johnson & Johnson was ordered by an Oregon jury to pay $260 million to a woman who blamed her cancer on life-long use of the company’s baby powder as the drugmaker strives to wrap-up litigation over the now-withdrawn product.

The state-court jury in Portland, Oregon, found late Monday that J&J was responsible for Kyung Lee’s mesothelioma – a cancer tied to asbestos exposure — and awarded her $200 million in compensatory damages and $60 million in punitive damages. Lee was diagnosed with the often-fatal cancer last year at age 48. She argued J&J’s talc-based baby powder was tainted with asbestos. ...