Facts

Plaintiff Christina Prudencio was a preschool teacher and studying for her master's degree when she discovered she had cancer, malignant mesothelioma--a cancer of the thin tissue that lines the lung, chest wall and abdomen. Prudencio had been using defendant Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder from birth until she was 16. She continued to be exposed through the use of the product on her younger siblings, and on her 34th birthday, she required surgery to remove the cancer. The product stayed on the market unchanged until 2020.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff contended that defendant knew decades before she was born in 1986 that its talc product contained cancer-causing asbestos, asbestiform fibers, and asbestiform talc. She further alleged that defendants' conduct made her terminally ill because, among other things, they failed to warn about their products' hazards, chose not to replace talc with a known safer alternative, cornstarch, and created test protocols for its talc that it knew were inaccurate and unreliable. Her consequential illness resulted in numerous health complications, forced plaintiff to stop working, and rendered her unable to have children. Plaintiff further contended that a good and reasonable company, after being warned that their product contained cancer-causing substances, would take the product off the marketplace, investigate the claims, and, if true, permanently keep the product off the shelves.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant disputed Plaintiff's allegations concerning asbestos, its "knowledge" or the need for a warning given the FDA's historic analysis and determination that no such warning was required. Defendant contended that plaintiff's malignant cancer was incredibly rare in young women and more likely than not a result of a gene mutation.

Result

Judgment was entered for just over $26.5 million dollars. The jury awarded plaintiff with $20 million for non-economic damages including pain and suffering, over $4.1 million for lost past and future income, over $1.57 million for lost past and future household services, and $800,000 for past and future medical costs. The jury also found that Defendants acted with malice and oppression, and awarded plaintiff with $100,000 in punitive damages.