Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $4.7-billion (~R63-billion) in damages to 22 women who claim the company's baby powder and other talcum powder products caused them to develop ovarian cancer.
The verdict was given by a jury in Missouri, U.S., and the pharmaceutical company also faces claims from 9,000 other people. However, the company said it will be appealing the result.
"Johnson & Johnson is deeply disappointed in the verdict, which was the product of a fundamentally unfair process," it said in a statement. "Every verdict against Johnson & Johnson in this court that has gone through the appeals process has been reversed, and the multiple errors present in this trial were worse than those in the prior trials which have been reversed."
Talc has been a bathroom cabinet staple in many households for years, but is it time to change our habits?
