By Diana Novak Jones
(Reuters) -A Los Angeles jury late on Monday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $966 million to the family of a woman who died from mesothelioma, finding the company liable in the latest lawsuit alleging its baby powder products cause cancer.
The family of Mae Moore, who died in 2021, sued the company the same year, claiming Johnson & Johnson’s talc baby powder products contained asbestos fibers that caused her rare cancer. The jury ordered the company to pay $16 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages, according to court filings.
The verdict could be reduced on appeal as the U.S. Supreme Court has found that punitive damages should generally be no more than nine times compensatory damages.
Representatives for Johnson & Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company has said its products are safe, do not contain asbestos, and do not cause cancer. J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product.
(Reporting by Diana Novak Jones; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Alexia Garamfalvi, Rod Nickel)
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