St. Clair County jury rules for Johnson & Johnson, against Smithton woman’s family
A St. Clair County jury has decided in favor of Johnson & Johnson in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of a former Smithton woman who died of ovarian cancer in 2016 after using its talc-based baby powder.
The jury began deliberating about 2:30 p.m. Thursday and rendered a verdict at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the St. Clair County Courthouse in Belleville. The family of the late Elizabeth “Betty” Driscoll has declined to comment on the case during the three-week trial.
Attorneys for the family couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Friday. They had asked the jury to award their clients between $10 and $50 million in damages for Driscoll’s physical pain, mental anguish and death at age 69.
Johnson & Johnson released the following statement on Friday:
“Another jury, following careful consideration of the science and facts presented, has unanimously agreed that Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.
“Despite the lack of any scientific evidence to support their claims, the plaintiff trial bar continues to push forward with its misinformation campaign to media to drive baseless and inflammatory headlines in the hopes they can force a resolution of these cases. The claims by these lawyers are unfounded and it is clear the only interest they have is their own financial gain.
“We deeply sympathize with anyone suffering from cancer and know they are seeking answers. That’s why the facts are so important — and the facts are that research, clinical evidence and over 40 years of studies by independent medical experts around the world continue to support the safety of cosmetic talc.”
The lawsuit was filed in 2018 by Colleen Cadagin, Driscoll’s niece and executor of her estate. Court records now include more than 20,000 documents, according to the St. Clair County circuit clerk’s office.
The jury trial began July 12 with Associate Judge Chris Kolker presiding. A standing-room-only crowd heard closing arguments on Thursday morning before the jury went into deliberation.
The complaint stated that Driscoll used Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder and other talc-based products throughout her life for feminine hygiene before being diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer on Feb. 25, 2015, and dying of the disease on Sept. 4, 2016.
Johnson & Johnson is facing thousands of similar lawsuits across the country, with plaintiffs arguing that talc in its products contained traces of asbestos, a known carcinogen.
Key to the lawsuits, including the one filed by Driscoll’s family, is the allegation that the company knew the health risks decades ago but failed to warn consumers and continued to promote the baby powder as safe and gentle enough for use on infants.
In 2018, a St. Louis jury awarded $4.69 billion to 22 women who claimed Johnson & Johnson products caused their ovarian cancer. The Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the decision last year, but reduced the amount to $2.1 billion.
Johnson & Johnson has often maintained that faulty testing, shoddy science and ill-equipped researchers are to blame for findings that its talc-based powder was contaminated with asbestos.
The company developed a cornstarch-based alternative in 1980. It stopped selling talc-based powder in North America last year but continues to offer it in other parts of the world.
Driscoll grew up in a large family. Her 2016 obituary stated that she was survived by six sisters and two brothers and preceded in death by one brother and one sister. Her father was Judge John J. Driscoll.
Betty Driscoll lived in East St. Louis, Collinsville and Belleville before moving to Smithton, according to the lawsuit.
Driscoll’s family was represented by John Driscoll and Paul Johnson, of The Driscoll Firm in St. Louis; former St. Clair County Chief Judge John Baracevic and his son, Charles Baracevic, of Chatham & Baracevic in Belleville; and attorneys with Beasley Allen Law Firm in Montgomery, Alabama.
Johnson & Johnson was represented by Beth Bauer and W. Jason Rankin, of HeplerBroom in Edwardsville; and attorneys from firms in Kansas City, Missouri, Houston, Texas, Baltimore, Maryland, and New York.
This story was originally published July 30, 2021 at 12:47 PM.
