Published September 18, 2026
A jury in the Orleans Parish Civil District Court returned a $10 million verdict on August 31, 2026, in favor of the family of Lynne Roy, a Louisiana woman who died of mesothelioma in 2020 after decades of exposure to talc products. Following a three-week trial, jurors found that Roy had regular, significant exposure to asbestos from products manufactured or sold by Johnson & Johnson, and that the exposure was a significant cause of her cancer. The jury also found J&J negligent and its products unreasonably dangerous, including for failing to warn of the asbestos hazard.
Jurors split the $10 million award into $8 million for Roy's pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life before her death, plus $1 million each to her two daughters, Melissa Kaiser and Melanie Roy, for the loss of their mother. But J&J won't pay the full amount: jurors apportioned fault among several co-defendant talc and asbestos companies as well, setting J&J's individual share of the verdict at just over $1.2 million.
The verdict marks the 11th talc trial loss for Johnson & Johnson secured by the plaintiffs' firm in this case, spread across roughly half a dozen states — part of a broader pattern of mixed and often unfavorable outcomes for the company at trial even as it has pursued settlement on a larger scale. In August 2026, J&J proposed a $5.5 billion settlement aimed at resolving nearly all of its remaining talc lawsuits, and in September a Baltimore jury separately hit the company with a $1.56 billion verdict — the largest single-plaintiff talc award to date. The Roy verdict shows that even as those larger resolutions move forward, individual cases are still reaching juries and producing results, with liability sometimes split narrowly among multiple defendants rather than resting entirely on J&J.
J&J has long maintained that its talc products do not contain asbestos and do not cause cancer, and is expected to pursue post-trial motions and a possible appeal, consistent with its response to other adverse verdicts in this litigation.
If you or a loved one were diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease after using talc-based products, see Atumio's talcum powder case page or asbestos & mesothelioma case page for a free eligibility review, or start your case review directly.