强生爽身粉致癌案新进展！被判赔偿近70亿元

据路透社报道，当地时间10月7日，美国洛杉矶县法院一陪审团裁定，强生公司（Johnson & Johnson）须向一名死于间皮瘤的女性的家属支付9.66亿美元（约合人民币68.8亿元）赔偿金，认定其滑石粉产品致癌，公司应承担相应责任。这是针对强生爽身粉产品致癌指控的最新一宗判决。

A Los Angeles jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $966 million to the family of a woman who died from mesothelioma, finding the company liable in the latest trial alleging its talc products cause cancer.

据悉，死者梅·摩尔是美国加利福尼亚州居民，2021年因罕见癌症间皮瘤去世，享年88岁。这种疾病通常与长期接触石棉有关。其家属同年起诉强生公司，指控其婴儿爽身粉产品含有石棉纤维，导致摩尔患癌。

The family of Mae Moore, a California resident who died at age 88 in 2021, sued the company the same year, claiming J&J's talc baby powder products contained asbestos fibers that caused her rare cancer.

根据法庭文件，陪审团判令强生支付1600万美元补偿性赔偿金及9.5亿美元惩罚性赔偿金。

The jury late on Monday ordered J&J to pay $16 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages, according to court filings.

15年来获赔金额最高的判决

强生将上诉

据了解，这是自强生滑石粉诉讼持续15年来，单一原告获赔金额最高的一起判决。不过，该赔偿数额在强生公司上诉后可能被削减。按照美国最高法院的相关裁定，惩罚性赔偿金通常不得超过补偿性赔偿金的九倍。

The verdict could be reduced on appeal as the US Supreme Court has found that punitive damages should generally be no more than nine times compensatory damages.

图源：路透社

对此，强生全球诉讼事务副总裁埃里克·哈斯在声明中表示，公司计划立即提出上诉，并称这一判决“极端且违宪”。他还指控原告律师在摩尔案中“引用了不应被提交给陪审团的伪科学证据”。

Erik Haas, Johnson & Johnson's worldwide vice-president of litigation, said in a statement that the company plans to immediately appeal, calling the verdict "egregious and unconstitutional".

"The plaintiff lawyers in this Moore case based their arguments on 'junk science' that never should have been presented to the jury," Haas said.

强生方面重申，其产品“安全、不含石棉，也不会导致癌症”。公司指出，早在2020年就已在美国停止销售含滑石粉的婴儿爽身粉，并改用玉米淀粉配方。间皮瘤是一种罕见癌症，通常与长期接触石棉有关。

The company has said its products are safe, do not contain asbestos, and do not cause cancer. J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product. Mesothelioma has been linked to asbestos exposure.

而原告律师团队则援引强生内部文件反驳称，公司早在20世纪70年代便已知悉其滑石粉中可能含有石棉，但未向公众披露风险。代表摩尔家属的律师特雷·布兰汉在判决后称，其团队“希望强生最终能为这些原本可以避免的悲剧承担责任”。

根据法庭文件，强生目前正面临超过6.7万起诉讼，原告均声称在使用婴儿爽身粉及其他滑石粉产品后罹患癌症。其中，指控滑石粉导致间皮瘤的案件仅占一小部分，大多数与卵巢癌有关。

J&J is facing lawsuits from more than 67,000 plaintiffs who say they were diagnosed with cancer after using baby powder and other talc products, according to court filings.

The number of lawsuits alleging talc caused mesothelioma is a small subset of these cases, with the vast majority involving ovarian cancer claims.

来源：路透社 红星新闻

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