NEW YORK—Johnson & Johnson has vowed to appeal a $4.7 billion verdict awarded to 22 women who claim asbestos-contaminated talc in the company’s products gave them ovarian cancer by arguing the plaintiffs’ science was flawed and the case should not have been heard in Missouri.
But several legal experts said that even though J&J has been successful in winning appeals of other talc cases in Missouri, it will face a challenging road in appealing the verdict handed down on Thursday in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis.
John Beisner, a lawyer for Johnson & Johnson, said, “One of the hardest things will be prioritizing what to appeal first.” He described to Reuters the company’s jurisdictional and scientific arguments for overturning Thursday’s verdict.In a statement responding to the verdict, J&J reiterated its position that its products never contained asbestos and were not carcinogenic.
