New Round Of Cancer Cases Due To Soaring Bedak, Victim Demands J&J To Pay IDR 233 Billion

JAKARTA - Johnson & Johnson (J&J) was asked to pay USD 15 million or IDR 233 million to a man in Connecticut. The man admitted to having rare cancer, mesothelioma due to decades-long use of the company's powder talk.

Reporting from the Reuters page, plaintiff Evan Plotkin sued J&J in 2021 after suffering from cancer. He admitted that he was diagnosed with cancer after inhaling J&J's baby powder.

Jury di Fairfield County, Pengadilan Tinggi Connecticut juga menemukan perusahaan harus membayar pengganti rugi hukuman tambahan, yang akan ditentukan nanti oleh hakim yang mengawasi kasus tersebut.

"Evan Plotkin and his trial team are very happy that the jury once again decided to hold Johnson & Johnson accountable for the marketing and sale of baby powder products they know contain asbestos," said Ben Braly, Plotkin's attorney via email.

Meanwhile, Erik Haas, vice president of J&J litigation around the world, said in a statement that the company would appeal the court judge's ruling that prevented the jury from hearing critical facts about the case.

"The facts show the decision cannot be reconciled with an independent scientific evaluation for decades confirming that the powder is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer," said Haas.

The verdict comes as J&J seeks to settle claims of more than 62 thousand people who say they have ovarian cancer and other gynecology from powder talk through bankruptcy settlements reaching USD 9 billion or Rp139 trillion rupiah.

The bankruptcy deal, which faces legal challenges from some plaintiffs' lawyers, has postponed lawsuits over gynecologist cancer, but did not affect the much smaller number of mesofthelioma claims such as Plotkin. The company has previously settled some of these claims but has yet to propose a national settlement.

Plaintiffs in all lawsuits say that J&J's powder products, such as iconic, polluted baby powder with asbestos, carcinogens that are known to cause mesothelioma and other cancers. J&J pulled powder-based powder products from the US market in 2020.