$110,000,000 Products Liability

James Onder and OnderLaw have now won $307 million in baby powder cancer lawsuits

(St. Louis, Missouri) May 5, 2017 – After almost 11 hours of deliberation, which began last evening and concluded this evening, a St. Louis City jury awarded our client, 62-year-old Lois Slemp of Virginia, more than a $110-Million-dollar verdict. Ms. Slemp was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012. She endured surgery and chemotherapy and was in remission until last year. It has now metastasized to her liver. This mother and grandmother is once again undergoing extensive chemotherapy and was too ill to even attend the trial.

This is the fourth Bellwether case in which a St. Louis jury awarded a plaintiff’s verdict. This litigation against Johnson & Johnson and Imerys, the talc mining company, is ongoing with thousands more claimants across the globe. As in previous trials, the jury was presented internal documents from J & J, showing the company was well aware of studies connecting talc use and ovarian cancer, yet it still continues to market it without any sort of warning.

“Lois trusted Johnson & Johnson and as she says, that was a big mistake. She used talcum powder for 40-plus years. It was part of her daily routine. She had no idea of the risk and to think Johnson & Johnson was aware, but didn’t bother warning her. It’s hard to fathom someone keeping that from you and putting your life at risk. Women like Lois are why we are fighting a corporate giant like Johnson & Johnson. We don’t care how many trials it takes, we plan to fight alongside these women who are courageously fighting for their lives and we will continue to do so until Johnson & Johnson and Imerys stand up and do the right thing,” proclaimed James Onder, one of the talc trial attorneys.

Researchers began linking talc to ovarian cancer as far back as the 1970’s. Harvard University professor and doctor at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Daniel Cramer, found in 1982 that women who used talc in the perineal region faced a 92% increase in the risk of developing ovarian cancer. He claims Johnson & Johnson was aware of every one of the studies regarding this link for the past 40 years.

This marks the fourth multi-million-dollar verdict against the makers of talcum powder and there are thousands more cases filed. As you may recall, February 2016, a jury awarded a $72-Million-dollar verdict to a FL woman against Johnson & Johnson. Last May, a jury awarded a $55-Million-dollar verdict to a SD woman against J & J and in October a jury awarded a combined $70-Million-dollar verdict to a CA woman against both Johnson & Johnson and Imerys.