A California jury on Friday awarded $40 million to two women who said long-term use of Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based baby powder caused their ovarian cancer. Kent was diagnosed in 2014 and Schultz in 2018. Both women used the powder after bathing for about 40 years. They underwent major surgeries and many rounds of chemotherapy, they said during the trial. Andy Birchfield, the women’s lawyer, told the jury, "Absolutely they knew, they knew and they were doing everything they could to hide it, to bury the truth about the dangers." Johnson & Johnson’s lawyer, Allison Brown, countered, "They don’t have the evidence in this case, and they hope you don’t mind." She said no major US health agency supports the link and no study proves talc can move from outside the body to the reproductive organs. Erik Haas, J&J’s global vice president of litigation, said the company will "immediately appeal this verdict and expect to prevail as we typically do with aberrant adverse verdicts." Over 67,000 plaintiffs have sued J&J, claiming talc products led to cancer. The company insists their products are safe, asbestos-free, and do not cause cancer. J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US in 2020 and switched to cornstarch. The company tried to use bankruptcy protection to handle the lawsuits but was denied by courts three times. Brown and Kent’s cases are the first trials after this bankruptcy push was dismissed. In past years, some juries have awarded billions in damages, while other verdicts were overturned or reduced. Most lawsuits claim ovarian cancer, while some involve mesothelioma, a rare cancer linked to talc. J&J has settled some mesothelioma cases but no nationwide deal exists, so many trials continue. Recently, J&J lost several big mesothelioma verdicts, including one over $900 million in Los Angeles in October.