Subhechcha Ganguly 
A jury found on Tuesday that Johnson & Johnson must pay $18.8 million to a California man who claimed he contracted cancer after using the firm’s baby powder. This is a blow for the corporation as it works to resolve thousands of other cases involving its talc-based products in US bankruptcy court.Jurors in a state court in Oakland came to the conclusion that Anthony Hernandez Valadez’s mesothelioma, a cancer linked to asbestos exposure, was caused in part by J&J’s baby powder. Despite a court order halting all litigation, Valadez’s case was approved for trial as an exception due to Valadez’s deteriorating health after J&J attempted to shield its talc liability in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The business Johnson & Johnson has increased its criticism of scientific findings by suing four doctors who published studies indicating ties between talc-based personal care products and cancer.
LTL Management, a J&J subsidiary that took on the company’s talc liability in a contentious 2021 spinoff, last week filed a lawsuit in New Jersey federal court, asking the court to order three researchers to “retract and/or issue a correction” of a study that claimed patients occasionally developed mesothelioma after using consumer talc products containing asbestos.
