Health

Idaho woman wins $40 million in lawsuit over baby powder-linked cancer


A Los Angeles jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay an Idaho woman $40.3 million after she developed mesothelioma, a cancer linked to asbestos in the company’s talc, or baby, powder on Friday. 

Nancy Cabibi, 71, was diagnosed with the often fatal cancer, which typically strikes the lining of the lungs, in 2017 and has since undergone surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy. 

The exact cause of mesothelioma is unclear – beyond the fact that it stems from DNA mutations – but evidence suggests that asbestos can lodge in the lungs, corrupting the genetic material in cells there and fueling the development of the cancer. 

More than 14,000 lawsuits alleging that Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder triggered ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, and Cabibi’s award pushes the total bill the pharmaceutical giant has footed for the products well over $50 billion.

A jury awarded Nancy Cabibi over $40 million after she alleged Johnson & Johnson's asbestos-laden baby powder cause her mesothelioma, an often deadly cancer of the lung lining

A jury awarded Nancy Cabibi over $40 million after she alleged Johnson & Johnson’s asbestos-laden baby powder cause her mesothelioma, an often deadly cancer of the lung lining 

Mesothelima is a relatively rare cancer, striking 3,000 people a year, accounting for less than 0.3 percent of all cancer diagnoses in the US. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) considers asbestos a known carcinogen that causes lung, larynx, and ovarian cancers, as well as mesothelioma. 

Asbestos is mineral, but its composition is unusual in that it can actually be pulled apart into microscopic fibers that don’t break down naturally. 

As a result, those fibers can get lodged in the lungs of people exposed to asbestos for years, wreaking havoc on those cells and sending DNA haywire. 

The result, in some cases, is cancer. 

In fact, Asbestos.com estimates that between two and 10 percent of all people who are exposed to large quantities of asbestos over prolonged periods of time develop pleural mesothelioma, the sub-type of the cancer that accounts for 75 percent of cases. 

WHAT IS MESOTHELIOMA?

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops in the lining that covers the outer surface of some of the body’s organs. It’s usually linked to asbestos exposure.

It mainly affects the lining of the lungs (pleural mesothelioma), although it can also affect the lining of the tummy (peritoneal mesothelioma), heart or testicles.

More than 2,600 people are diagnosed with the condition each year in the UK. Most cases are diagnosed in people aged 60-80 and men are affected more commonly than women.

Unfortunately it’s rarely possible to cure mesothelioma, although treatment can help control the symptoms.

The symptoms of mesothelioma tend to develop gradually over time. They typically don’t appear until several decades after exposure to asbestos.

Mesothelioma is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos, a group of minerals made of microscopic fibres that used to be widely used in construction.

These tiny fibres can easily get in the lungs, where they get stuck, damaging the lungs over time. It usually takes a while for this to cause any obvious problems, with mesothelioma typically developing more than 20 years after exposure to asbestos.

The use of asbestos was completely banned in 1999, so the risk of exposure is much lower nowadays. However, materials containing asbestos are still found in many older buildings.

Source: NHS Choices 

The first symptoms of the disease – like a dry cough, wheezing and shortness of breath – are slow to show up, typically only appearing between 20 and 50 years after exposure when the tumors are already developing and spreading. 

Asbestos was once a nearly-ubiquitous insulation in buildings and because it does not break down naturally, it can linger in cities. 

That was Johnson & Johnson’s defense. Attorneys for the company claimed that Cabibi – who now resides in Idaho with her husband, Phil – had been exposed to asbestos while living in an industrial area of Los Angeles. 

Cancer from these kinds of asbestos exposures is fairly common among factory workers, but Cabibi’s attorneys say she never worked in a factor, and the jury determined Friday that atmospheric exposure wouldn’t have been enough to trigger cancer.  

It’s not clear how much baby powder or other Johnson & Johnson products Cabibi used, or for how long she used it, but she claimed they were common products for her. 

But once she developed mesothelioma, Cabibi’s cancer-riddled body tissue was tested for asbestos exposure. 

Sure enough, the test revealed both tremolite and anthophyllite asbestos, two forms of the mineral confirmed to be in Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder as well as its Shower to Shower product. 

Cabibi had used both. 

It’s been some two years since her diagnosis, and treatment has kept her Cabibi alive. 

But the average patient lives between just 12 and 22 months from diagnosis. The five-year survival rate is only four percent. 

‘Nancy Cabibi is fighting to survive every single day because of asbestos in Johnson’s Baby Powder,’ said her attorney, David Greenstone, in a press release. 

‘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 had not replied to DailyMail.com’s request for comment at the time of publication.  



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