NJ Couple Wins $37M In Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Cancer Case

A New Jersey couple has won a combined $37 million from Johnson & Johnson and another company after a jury supported a man's claim that he got cancer from asbestos in baby powder.

Johnson & Johnson said it was "disappointed" Friday in a jury verdict that awarded $30 million to Stephen Lanzo, 46, of Verona as a result of the mesothelioma he contracted. The jury sitting in New Brunswick awarded his wife, Kendra Lanzo, $7 million.

“While we are disappointed with this decision, the jury has further deliberations to conduct in this trial and we will reserve additional comment until the case is fully completed," Carol Goodrich, a spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson, said in a statement provided to Patch.

Lanzo, an investment banker, argued that he contracted mesothelioma as a result of applying the company's products to his skin for more than 30 years, according to nj.com. In a lawsuit, he claimed Johnson & Johnson knew its products contained asbestos but didn't properly warn its consumers.

The company argued its products never contained asbestos and that the plaintiffs used faulty test methods to prove their case, according to nj.com. Lawyers for Johnson & Johnson also said Lanzo grew up in a house in Montclair that received an abatement 16 years ago for basement pipes wrapped in asbestos.

Johnson & Johnson is responsible for 70 percent of the damages, while Imerys SA must pick up the rest because the company supplied the talc used to manufacture the baby powder, according to the report.

Malignant mesothelioma is associated with occupational and environmental inhalation exposure to asbestos fibers and other particles. Patients have a median survival of approximately 1 year from the time of diagnosis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Many other lawsuits claiming a link between cancer and talcum powder products have been filed against Johnson & Johnson and other companies in the US, according to The Daily Mail. Talcum powder is made from talc which is found in deposits often located near asbestos deposits.

Lanzo has argued that he could have been inhaling asbestos each time he used the products including Shower to Shower and Baby Powder. according to The Daily Mail. Johnson & Johnson, meanwhile, is currently facing 6,610 talc-related lawsuits, and the majority of the cases are based on claims that the company failed to warn women about the risk of developing ovarian cancer.

A key piece of evidence for the plaintiffs has been an internal memo from 1969 in which a scientist specifically mentioned asbestos contamination in the company's talc, according to the report.

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