Asbestos in talc. Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Indemnify Stephen Lanzo
The US banker had taken the pharmaceutical company to court convinced that the cause of his mesothelioma had been the use of the products for 30 years. The company files an appeal
One hundred and seventeen million dollars, that is 95 million euros. It is the amount that Johnson & Johnson and its talc supplier Imerys Talc will have to give to Stephen Lanzo. The man, a US banker, took the pharmaceutical company to court convinced that its products are the cause of mesothelioma. lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.
Asbestos in products
“The Middlesex County jury in New Jersey – writes CNN – ordered the companies to pay $80 million in punitive damages.” This is a provision provided for by the US jurisdiction which provides for compensation higher than that due to compensate for the damage suffered in the event of willful misconduct or gross negligence. A week earlier the same court had awarded another "30 million dollars in damages to Lanzo and seven to his wife", recognizing the 70% of liability to the pharmaceutical company and the 30% to the French supplier.
The man, now 46, said he have used Johnson & Johnson products, such as Shower to Shower and Baby Powder for over 30 years.
First sentence for a man and for lung cancer
It is the first time that a ruling establishes that "the company's products contain asbestos - he reports Reuters -. The company denies the allegations, saying its powders do not contain them or cause cancer” and announces the appeal. The sentence also represents the first case in which a man is involved. However, it is not the first time that Johnson and Johnson has faced the courts of US courts. There are more than six thousand open cases, most of which are based on the accusation that the company would not warn women on the risk of developing ovarian cancer by using intimate hygiene products.
In Missouri alone, four out of five lawsuits settled the company's liabilities, forcing it to pay more than $300 million. In California, according to Reuters, another sentence had established a compensation of 417 million dollars for the death of a woman. However, almost all of these decisions were overturned on appeal.
The problem with talc is extraction
For this reason, the company hopes that the sentence will be canceled in this case as well. In the court that brought her before Lanzo, Johnson & Johnson defended herself by saying she was sure that "man's exposure to asbestos comes from different sources".
Talc deposits, writes CNN, "are often found near deposits of minerals that make up asbestos, and some studies have shown the risk of contamination during extraction".
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