(Reuters) – A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday reduced a damages award against Johnson & Johnson to about $2.12 billion from $4.69 billion in a case brought by 22 women who blamed their ovarian cancer on asbestos in its baby powder and other talc products.
The Missouri Court of Appeals awarded $500 million in actual damages and $1.62 billion in punitive damages, after dismissing claims by some of the plaintiffs.
Johnson & Johnson had been appealing a July 2018 jury verdict. The company has faced thousands of lawsuits over the safety of talc in its Baby Powder.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Editing by Franklin Paul)
