We've seen it before with lead paint, tobacco products, ignition switches, and asbestos building materials: a class action lawsuit can quickly become a nightmare for insurance providers.
In the recent past, several juries have handed down very large verdicts against talcum powder (talc) defendants. Notable among them has been Johnson & Johnson, costing the company almost $200 million in 2016 alone.
|Key legal developments
Three verdicts from 2016 occurred in St. Louis, Missouri, a jurisdiction known to be favorable to asbestos plaintiffs, and included considerable punitive damages for the plaintiffs. Those verdicts suggested that exposure from the talc in J&J's baby powder caused ovarian cancer in the plaintiffs. Juries have also found that talc powder is connected to mesothelioma, and can be contaminated with asbestos.
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