On October 6, 2025, in Los Angeles Superior Court, a jury found J&J liable for the death of Mae Moore, an 88-year-old California woman who died in 2021 from mesothelioma, a rare cancer strongly linked to asbestos exposure. Moore’s family alleged that decades of using J&J’s talcum-based baby powder and Shower-to-Shower products exposed her to asbestos-contaminated talcum, which the company knowingly concealed. This verdict marks one of the largest single-plaintiff awards in the ongoing talc litigation.
The verdict awarded $16 million in compensatory damages (for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and loss to the family). $950 million in punitive damages (intended to punish J&J for alleged reckless behavior and deter future misconduct). The total jury verdict was $966 million.
The jury determined that J&J was negligent in manufacturing and marketing its talc products, failed to warn consumers about asbestos risks, and that the products were defective. They rejected J&J’s defenses, including claims that its testing showed no asbestos and that scientific consensus supports the safety of its talc.
The case was the latest in a series of individual trials after federal courts rejected J&J’s multiple attempts to settle thousands of talc claims via bankruptcy filings (the third rejection occurred earlier in 2025). Mesothelioma cases like this represent a smaller subset of the broader litigation, which primarily involves ovarian cancer claims.
J&J has vehemently denied liability, stating that its talc products “do not contain asbestos and do not cause cancer,” citing decades of independent scientific evaluations and regulatory tests. Erik Haas, J&J’s Worldwide Vice President of Litigation, called the verdict “egregious and unconstitutional,” accusing plaintiffs’ lawyers of relying on “junk science.”
The company announced it will immediately appeal, potentially arguing that punitive damages exceed constitutional limits (U.S. Supreme Court guidelines suggest they should not exceed 9 times compensatory damages, which could reduce the award to around $144 million). J&J has successfully appealed or won some prior talc cases, including a recent South Carolina mesothelioma trial.
J&J faces over 67,000 lawsuits nationwide alleging its talc products caused cancers like mesothelioma and ovarian cancer due to asbestos contamination. The company discontinued talc-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020 (switching to cornstarch) and globally in 2023 amid declining sales and scrutiny. Other notable California verdicts include:
– – August 2024: $417 million ($70M compensatory + $347M punitive) to a woman with ovarian cancer (Echeverria case).
– – July 2023: $18.8 million to a man with mesothelioma (Valadez case). 2019: $29.4 million to a woman with mesothelioma (Leavitt case).
– – In 2024, J&J also paid $700 million to settle a separate multi-state investigation into misleading safety claims about talc.
Despite these losses, J&J maintains its products are safe and has won several trials.This litigation highlights ongoing debates in science and law: While some studies link genital talc use to ovarian cancer risk and asbestos in talc to mesothelioma, major health bodies like the FDA and WHO have not conclusively banned cosmetic talc, emphasizing the need for more research.