Court orders Johnson &Johnson to pay woman £85m, who claimed using Johnsons Baby Powder caused her ovarian cancer

A US jury in St Louis, Missouri, have ordered the makers of Johnson’s baby powder to pay more than £85million to a  woman who says she got cancer from using its products.

 In the latest court case against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson and  Lois Slemp, 62, of Wise, Virginia. The Talc company was ordered to pay Slemp the record sum.

Slemp, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012, blames her illness on her four-decade-long use of the company’s talcum powder products.

The disease has now spread to her liver and she was too ill to attend the trial.

But in an audiotape of her testimony played in court she said: “I trusted Johnson & Johnson – big mistake.”

Jim Onder, one of Slemp’s lawyers, today said she was “thrilled” with the verdict and hoped it would “send a message”.

Johnson & Johnson said it would appeal and disputed the scientific evidence behind Slemp’s claims.

The company also noted that a St. Louis jury found in its favour in a similar case in March, while two more cases in New Jersey were thrown out by a judge.

A statement from the company said: “We are preparing for additional trials this year and we will continue to defend the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder.”

Much research has found no link or a weak one between ovarian cancer and the use of baby powder for feminine hygiene, and most major health groups have declared talc harmless.

But the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies genital use of talc as “possibly carcinogenic”.

Lawyers cited other research that began connecting talcum powder to ovarian cancer in the 1970s, claiming women who regularly use it on their genital area face up to a 40 per cent higher risk of developing the disease.

Three previous juries in St Louis have awarded a total of £152million to claimants in similar cases.

One of those was ovarian cancer sufferer Deborah Giannecchini of Modesto, California, who was awarded more than £58million in October last year.