Published September 14, 2026
A Baltimore City Circuit Court jury awarded $1.56 billion on December 22, 2025 to Cherie Craft, a 54-year-old Maryland woman who developed peritoneal mesothelioma after more than 40 years of using Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder. The verdict — $60 million in compensatory damages plus $1 billion in punitive damages against J&J and another $500 million against its Pecos River Talc LLC subsidiary — is the largest award to a single plaintiff in the talc litigation to date.
Jurors found J&J and its co-defendants liable for failing to warn Craft that its baby powder was contaminated with asbestos, a substance linked to mesothelioma, and found evidence of fraudulent misrepresentation or concealment about the product's cancer risks. Plaintiff's attorney Jessica Dean argued the company withheld decades of internal evidence about asbestos contamination from regulators, doctors, and consumers. J&J's litigation counsel Erik Haas called the verdict "egregious and patently unconstitutional" and said the company would appeal immediately.
The Baltimore verdict landed in the middle of an already turbulent stretch for J&J's talc litigation. The company has now had three bankruptcy attempts to resolve the claims rejected by courts, and in July 2026 proposed a $5.5 billion global settlement covering roughly 76,000 remaining lawsuits — a deal that still needs acceptance from 95% of claimants to take effect. More than 67,000 talc-related claims remain pending against J&J and other manufacturers as of 2026, and the Baltimore verdict is being appealed separately from those settlement talks.
A verdict like this doesn't change the underlying facts a claimant needs to show — it's a data point on how juries are valuing severe talc-related cancer cases, not a guarantee about any individual case's outcome or timeline. If you or a loved one used talcum powder for feminine hygiene and were later diagnosed with ovarian cancer or mesothelioma, see Atumio's Talcum Powder case page for a free eligibility review, or start your case review directly.