Lawyers Say Johnson & Johnson Must Pay $72 Million for Death Linked to Talcum Powder
By REUTERS

(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson was ordered by a Missouri state jury to pay $72 million of damages to the family of a woman whose death from ovarian cancer was linked to her use of the company's talc-based Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for several decades.

In a verdict announced late Monday night, jurors in the circuit court of St. Louis awarded the family of Jacqueline Fox $10 million of actual damages and $62 million of punitive damages, according to the family's lawyers and court records.

The verdict is the first by a U.S. jury to award damages over the claims, the lawyers said.

Johnson & Johnson faces claims that it, in an effort to boost sales, failed for decades to warn consumers that its talc-based products could cause cancer. About 1,000 cases have been filed in Missouri state court, and another 200 in New Jersey.

Fox, who lived in Birmingham, Alabama, claimed she used Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for feminine hygiene for more than 35 years before being diagnosed three years ago with ovarian cancer. She died in October at age 62.

Jurors found Johnson & Johnson liable for fraud, negligence and conspiracy, the family's lawyers said. Deliberations lasted four hours, following a three-week trial.

Jere Beasley, a lawyer for Fox's family, said Johnson & Johnson "knew as far back as the 1980s of the risk," and yet resorted to "lying to the public, lying to the regulatory agencies." He spoke on a conference call with journalists.

Carol Goodrich, a Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman, said: "We have no higher responsibility than the health and safety of consumers, and we are disappointed with the outcome of the trial. We sympathize with the plaintiff's family but firmly believe the safety of cosmetic talc is supported by decades of scientific evidence."

Trials in several other talc lawsuits have been set for later this year, according to Danielle Mason, who also represented Fox's family at trial.

In October 2013, a federal jury in Sioux Falls, South Dakota found that plaintiff Deane Berg's use of Johnson & Johnson's body powder products was a factor in her developing ovarian cancer. Nevertheless, it awarded no damages, court records show.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc now owns the Shower to Shower brand but was not a defendant in the Fox case.

The case is Hogans et al v. Johnson & Johnson et al, Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri, No. 1422-CC09012.

爽身粉致癌奪命 嬌生在美判賠24億

一名婦女使用嬌生公司（Johnson & Johnson）含有滑石（talc）的爽身粉長達數十年，以致患卵巢癌死亡。密蘇里州陪審團22日晚下令嬌生公司，對該婦女的家屬賠償7200萬元（美元，下同）（約新台幣24億）。

在裁決書中，聖路易巡迴法院的陪審團，判給賈桂琳．福克斯（Jacqueline Fox）的家屬實際賠償1000萬元，以及懲罰性賠償6200萬元。

律師表示，這是美國陪審團首次對這一類的索賠，做出有利判決。

嬌生面臨數百宗訴訟，都指控該公司為了提高銷售，長達數十年未警告消費者，其滑石產品可致癌。

住在阿拉巴馬州伯明罕的福克斯表示，她把嬰兒爽身粉（Baby Powder）和Shower to Shower爽身粉，當作女性衛生用品使用超過35年，但於三年前被診斷出罹患卵巢癌，她於去年10月去世，享年62歲。

經過三周審判後，陪審團審議四小時便裁定，嬌生要為詐欺、疏忽和共謀負起法律責任。

福克斯的家庭律師畢斯利（Jere Beasley）表示，嬌生早在1980年代就知道有危險，但卻選擇對大眾和監理機構說謊。

嬌生發言人表示，該公司最崇高的責任就是消費者的健康和安全，嬌生對審判結果感到失望，該公司同情原告家屬，但是堅信化妝品用的滑石安全性，獲得數十年的科學證據支持。

在2013年10月，南達科他州蘇瀑布的陪審團裁定，蒂安．柏格（Deane Berg）使用嬌生的爽身粉產品，是她得卵巢癌的因素，但是並未判決要賠償。

爽身粉是否含石棉 成致癌關鍵

俗稱爽身粉的滑石粉（talcum powder）以滑石製作，滑石的主要成分為鎂、矽和氧，可吸收潮溼減少摩擦，保持皮膚乾爽，預防皮疹，在化妝品界作為爽身粉普遍使用。

美國防癌協會的網站指出，滑石粉與癌症有無關連，必須區分含有石棉的滑石和沒有石棉的滑石。含有石棉的滑石若吸入體內會致癌，被普遍接受，但是這種滑石並不用在現代的消費產品。不含石棉的滑石獲普遍使用，致癌的證據就沒那麼明確。

有人懷疑，滑石粉若塗在女性私處，其分子會從陰道、子宮和輸卵管進到卵巢。但是很多審視滑石粉與卵巢癌關連的研究結果並不一致，有些結果發現致癌風險略微提高，有些則稱風險未提高。使用滑石和其他癌症並沒有強烈關連，曾有一研究顯示，在私處使用爽身粉，可能略微提高更年期後女性患子宮內膜癌的風險，但是其他研究並未發現有關連。由於資訊不夠，隸屬世界衛生組織 （WHO）的國際癌症研究機構（IARC），對不含石棉的滑石視為「無法畫分是否對人體致癌」，但是對爽身粉用在生殖器官，則列為「對人體可能致癌」。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/02/23/business/23reuters-johnson-johnson-verdict.html

2016-02-25 世界日報 編譯宋凌蘭