Former LA Woman Who Says Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Caused Her Mesothelioma Wins $40.3 Million Jury Award
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A jury has awarded $40.3 million to a woman who says she acquired mesothelioma from her use of Johnson & Johnson talcum powder.
A Los Angeles jury deliberated for six days before reaching a verdict Friday in the lawsuit brought by Nancy Cabibi and her husband, Phil. According to court papers, she was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2017 and has undergone surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy.
Cabibi's body tissue showed the presence of tremolite and anthophylite asbestos, both of which are known contaminants of Johnson's Baby Powder and Shower to Shower, according to court papers. Both products were manufactured by Johnson & Johnson and used by Cabibi.
The jury found Johnson's Baby Powder defective because it contained asbestos and caused Cabibi's mesothelioma, a usually fatal form of cancer, her attorneys said.
"Nancy Cabibi is fighting to survive every single day because of asbestos in Johnson's Baby Powder," her attorney David Greenstone said. "While we are very pleased with this verdict, we know that we must continue to fight on behalf of the Cabibis and so many others who have been harmed."
Johnson & Johnson attorneys argued that Cabibi had actually been exposed to asbestos because she lived in an industrial area of Los Angeles, but her attorneys countered that she never worked or even entered any facilities where she would have been exposed.
The couple now lives in Idaho.
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