Johnson & Johnson must pay a $2.1 billion award to women who claimed its baby powder was contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos, after the U.S. Supreme Court left intact the largest verdict in the almost decade-long litigation over the iconic product.
The top U.S. court without comment on Tuesday refused to consider J&J’s objections to a St. Louis jury’s 2018 finding its talc-based powder helped cause ovarian cancer in 20 women.
J&J prepared for the appeal’s denial by
announcing in February it was setting aside almost $4 billion to cover the St. Louis verdict. The company still faces more than 26,000 lawsuits blaming baby powder for causing cancers. J&J pulled the product off U.S. and Canadian shelves last year.
