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Last updated on Wednesday, May 4, 2016
(UNDATED) - Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $55 million to a woman who says the company’s talc powder caused her to develop ovarian cancer.
Following a three-week trial and a day of deliberation, a Missouri jury awarded Gloria Ristesund $5 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages.
Ristesund said she used the company's talc-based powder products, which include the well-known baby powder and shower-to-shower powder on her genitals for decades.
She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and had to undergo a hysterectomy and related surgeries.
Her cancer is now in remission.
The verdict, which Johnson & Johnson plans to appeal, was the second straight trial loss for the company.
A jury awarded the family of a woman who died from ovarian cancer after years of using talc powder $72 million in February.
A company spokesperson said the verdicts contradicted 30 years of research supporting the safety of cosmetic talc.
Johnson and Johnson faces some 1,200 lawsuits accusing it of not adequately warning consumers about its talc-based products' cancer risks.
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