Jury Awards More Than $70M to Woman in Baby Powder Lawsuit

A St. Louis jury has awarded a California woman more than $70 million in her lawsuit alleging that years of using Johnson & Johnson's baby powder caused her cancer, the latest case raising concerns about the health ramifications of extended talcum powder use.

The jury ruling Thursday ended the trial that began Sept. 26 in the case brought by Deborah Giannecchini of Modesto, California. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012. The suit accused Johnson & Johnson of "negligent conduct" in making and marketing its baby powder.

Earlier this year, two other lawsuits in St. Louis ended in jury verdicts worth a combined $127 million, but two others in New Jersey were thrown out by a judge who said there wasn't reliable evidence that talc leads to ovarian cancer.