Appeals court throws out $72M award in Johnson & Johnson suit

October 18, 2017  14:46

A Missouri appeals court has tossed out a $72 million award in an Alabama woman's lawsuit that claimed talcum powder and other Johnson & Johnson products contributed to her cancer. 

The Missouri Eastern District court ruled Tuesday that Missouri was not the proper jurisdiction for a lawsuit filed by 62-year-old Jacqueline Fox, of Birmingham, Alabama, who died in 2015 of ovarian cancer.

The court cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this summer that found there must be a strong connection between the plaintiff and the state where a lawsuit is filed. While Fox's case has 65 plaintiffs, only two live in Missouri.

That 2006 award was the first award in several cases that claimed talcum powder contributed to cancer. Three other juries have ruled against Johnson & Johnson in similar lawsuits in Missouri. In August, a Los Angeles jury awarded $417 million to a California woman who claimed she contracted ovarian cancer from regularly using the company's baby powder.

A spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson says the company is pleased with the ruling. Carol Goodrich said in a statement Tuesday that the company has consistently argued that Missouri has no jurisdiction in cases involving non-residents and "we expect the existing verdicts that we are appealing to be reversed."

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