LOS ANGELES — A California woman with a deadly form of cancer has won a settlement with Colgate-Palmolive Co. after a Los Angeles jury found that asbestos-contaminated talcum powder was the main cause of her disease.
LOS ANGELES — A California woman with a deadly form of cancer has won a settlement with Colgate-Palmolive Co. after a Los Angeles jury found that asbestos-contaminated talcum powder was the main cause of her disease.
Colgate-Palmolive was ordered earlier this week to pay $12.4 million in damages. The case was then settled Wednesday for an undisclosed amount as jurors were about to consider tacking on punitive damages for plaintiff Judith Winkel and her husband, John Winkel. Judith Winkel, 73, of Santa Barbara, Calif., suffers from mesothelioma, a lethal type of cancer predominantly caused by asbestos exposure.
The two-week trial in Los Angeles Superior Court was the first to weigh allegations that, in past decades, the talc in Colgate’s popular Cashmere Bouquet powder came from asbestos-contaminated mines and that inhalation of asbestos fibers from the powder caused some cases of mesothelioma among people who had no other significant asbestos exposure. Winkel said she regularly used the powder from about 1961 to the mid-1970s. New York-based Colgate, which denied that Cashmere Bouquet was tainted by asbestos, sold the brand in 1995.
“Colgate was disappointed with the jury’s verdict,” company spokesman Tom DiPiazza said in a statement to FairWarning. He said the evidence showed that Cashmere Bouquet had “played no part in causing the plaintiff’s illness. In order to avoid devoting resources to continuing litigation through the appeals process, the parties have entered in a confidential settlement.”
Judith and John Winkel declined to be interviewed. Chris Panatier, one of their lawyers, said the risk posed by contaminated powders “is something that is coming to light due to the legal system. It should have come to light due to the company being honest in the ’60s and ’70s about the fact that they were finding asbestos in their talcum powder.”
Talc, the softest of minerals, is widely used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and even as a food additive. Companies that use talc say it’s free of asbestos or that asbestos is below detection limits. Over the years, however, some talc has been mined from deposits interlaced with asbestos. In some cases, talc suppliers have paid settlements or damages to factory workers who used industrial-grade talc and contracted asbestos-related illnesses.
The cases are distinct from a wave of claims against Johnson & Johnson that charge feminine-hygiene use of its talc powders caused ovarian cancer. About 700 such claims are pending against the company and its talc supplier Imerys Talc America Inc. These cases don’t challenge Johnson & Johnson’s assertions that its powders are asbestos-free, and claim that talc is responsible for the harm. Johnson & Johnson and Imerys say talc powders are safe.
The Winkels’ lawyers presented evidence that they said proved that during the years Judith Winkel used Cashmere Bouquet, Colgate got talc from mines in Montana, North Carolina and Northern Italy that were known to be contaminated.
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