Three months ago, we highlighted in this space the ongoing product liability battle being fought by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) on multiple fronts. Yesterday, a jury in Los Angeles awarded the largest verdict to date in these cases, in a decision that once again linked JNJ’s famous talc-based Baby Powder to ovarian cancer. The $417 million awarded yesterday dwarfs the previous record of $110 million that was awarded by a Missouri jury in a similar case that found a causal link to ovarian cancer from many years of using JNJ’s powder. The crux of the cases is that JNJ may not have warned customers sufficiently about the risks of using the powder.

A March 2017 article by Bloomberg highlighted that JNJ’s losses in court last year included six out of the seven largest verdicts at the time ever awarded in product liability cases, totaling nearly $1.8 billion. With the addition of the May decision and yesterday’s record high award, the running total now stands at $2.3 billion in just 2016 and 2017. While litigation is routinely experienced by pharmaceutical companies, and while JNJ will certainly appeal, the Bloomberg story highlights that the pileup of bad verdicts is a rare outcome.

Anyone betting against JNJ in the stock market, however, has not done well in recent months. The stock was a relative underperformer for much of the year but has outpaced the major indices this summer as investors have generally ignored any product liability concerns. We remain cautious about the ongoing impact of these cases and believe that the adverse verdicts will continue for JNJ.

It’s critical to keep in mind that these cases are not primarily about the drugs and products. Rather, they appear to be focused on the marketing practices of JNJ – specifically surrounding the disclosure to customers of risks that may have been known to the company and the lack of sufficient warning on the product label.

Here’s a summary of the outstanding cases faced by JNJ, based on data disclosed in its most recent 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 2, 2017:

The victim in the most recent trial had used JNJ’s Baby Powder since she was 11 years old and continued after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007, unaware that some studies had linked talc to cancer, according to her attorney, Mark Robinson. She stopped using it after hearing news reports of a verdict in another lawsuit against JNJ and now wanted to warn other women. As quoted by The New York Times, Mr. Robinson said, “She told me, ‘I’m not doing this for myself.’ She knows she’s going to die. She’s doing this for other women. She wants to do something good before she leaves.”

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