Johnson & Johnson is already feeling the sting after a St. Louis jury awarded $4.7 billion in total damages to 22 women and their families who blame asbestos in the consumer-products company’s talcum powder for their ovarian cancer.
After falling nearly 3 percent in pre-market trading, shares of the company were lately down nearly 1 percent.
The company plans to appeal the ruling, saying it is “deeply disappointed” in the verdict and calling the legal process around the case as “fundamentally unfair.”
“The result of the verdict, which awarded the exact same amounts to all plaintiffs irrespective of their individual facts, and differences in applicable law, reflects that the evidence in the case was simply overwhelmed by the prejudice of this type of proceeding,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The company has been sued by more than 9,000 women who claim its talcum powder contributed to their ovarian cancer. Johnson & Johnson has consistently denied that its products can be linked to the cancer.
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