J&J, Imerys Unit Must Pay $117M In N.J. Asbestos Cancer Case

Johnson & Johnson and Imerys Talc America, a unit of Imerys SA, must pay $117 million in damages in a case involving a man who said he developed cancer due to his exposure to asbestos in talc-based products, a New Jersey state court jury said on Wednesday. The jury ordered the companies to pay an additional $80 million in punitive damages to Stephen Lanzo after awarding him and his wife $37 million in compensatory damages during the first stage of the trial last Thursday. The verdict by jurors in New Brunswick, New Jersey, came in the second trial nationally to focus on claims that J&J’s talc products contained asbestos as the company separately fights thousands of cases claiming they can also cause ovarian cancer.