22 women have won a huge case against prominent company Johnson & Johnson in a hearing in the state of Missouri. The pharmaceutical company is due to pay out about $4.69 billion in the loss. It is well known that the company is one of the biggest and most successful in the world when it comes to the health/pharmaceutical market.

Other companies like Amazon have been getting involved with the pharmaceutical business, which is filled with potential and are sure to cause some competition with other manufacturers. Many individuals use their products whether it's their shampoo, pills, but one of its most notable - Johnson's baby powder.

Baby powder the culprit

22 women had sued the company because of its one product - Johnson's baby powder. The women alleged that using the product gave them ovarian cancer due to it having a mineral called talc, and it containing asbestos. Many use the product including babies and men/women. The product tends to help with itching, controlling moisture, and eliminating bad odors.

According to BBC News: "Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $4.7bn in damages to 22 women who alleged that its talc products caused them to develop ovarian cancer." The women used the product for many years to develop this form of cancer and the article states that "of the 22 women...six have died from ovarian cancer."

The main principal in the case that preceded the verdict was that Johnson & Johnson knew that the product had ingredients that could cause this over the long-term and failed to warn the customers.

They disregarded the possible risks of using the product over a wide span of time.

This is not the first time the company has been sued as the article from BBC states that the company "battles some 9,000 legal cases involving its signature baby powder."

The controversy, the company's statement

Johnson & Johnson plans to appeal the result because they do not believe there is enough factual evidence to suggest that its product causes ovarian cancer or contains asbestos in it.

Asbestos is a dangerous pollutant that has been linked to lung cancer.

The prestigious brand released a statement summarizing their innocence in the matter as stated in an article by The Washington Post: "Johnson & Johnson remains confident that its products do not contain asbestos and do not cause ovarian cancer."

More research needs to be done on this matter because there is limited evidence that correlates to baby powder causing ovarian cancer or containing asbestos.

The article states that "there is a debate about whether talcum powder can cause ovarian cancer, with many experts, including government researchers, contending the evidence is thin." The company will be fighting to reverse the result and not pay for the damages, as they have been able to win in that way before, but it will be very difficult for them to overrule the verdict.
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