A Missouri appeals court has vacated a $72 million talcum powder verdict, citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could threaten to erase additional verdicts against Johnson & Johnson in the state.
In an Oct. 17 order, Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District found that the Supreme Court’s decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court required tossing the verdict, which came out in early 2016. It was the first talcum powder verdict against Johnson & Johnson in Missouri and was awarded to the husband of Jacqueline Fox, an Alabama woman who died in 2015 of ovarian cancer after prolonged use of Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder.
