A state Superior Court jury in Alameda County, California, awarded a cancer patient roughly $26.5 million in compensatory damages on claims that Johnson & Johnson ignored decades of red flags about asbestos in its talc baby powder.
The jury found for plaintiff Christina Prudencio, 35, who has suffered through surgery and hemorrhage and has a terminal case of malignant mesothelioma she attributes to longtime use of J&J talcum powder.
Tury awarded $15 million for future noneconomic damages, including pain and suffering; $5 million for past noneconomic damages; $4.1 million for lost past and future income, $1.57 million for lost household services; and $800,000 for past medical costs.
Born in 1986, Prudencio had used talcum powder daily from birth until the age of 16, when she stopped using it, but her exposure continued because it was used on her two younger siblings. Later, Prudencio became a preschool teacher and was working on a master’s degree to further her teaching career when she had to stop working because of her illness.
She had surgery to try to rid herself of cancer on her 34th birthday, Feb. 27, 2020. She was confined to bed for five days after the surgery, her lawyer said. She also hemorrhaged at her sister’s house and had to be carried to an ambulance..
Law360: https://www.law360.com/articles/1413774/california-jury-awards-26-5m-in-talc-mesothelioma-trial