Johnson & Johnson asked to pay Rs. 202 crores to cancer patient who used its talcum powder
A United States jury on Wednesday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $29 million (Rs 202 crore) to a woman diagnosed with cancer, who alleged that the asbestos in the firm’s talcum-powder-based products caused her disease, Reuters reported. This is the latest development in over 13,000 lawsuits the company is facing across the US.
The pharmaceutical firm is also embroiled in a case involving faulty hipimplants.
The conglomerate said it would appeal the order and cited “serious procedural and evidentiary errors” in the trial’s proceedings. “We respect the legal process and reiterate that jury verdicts are not medical, scientific or regulatory conclusions about a product,” the company said.
Johnson & Johnson had refuted allegations that the product causes cancer and cited several studies and tests that to prove that its talc is safe.
The petitioner, Terry Leavitt, said she used Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower during the 1960s and 1970s before being diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2017.
In July 2018, a jury in Missouri ordered the pharmaceutical company to pay $4.7 billion (Rs 32,169 crore) in damages to 22 women who alleged that they had developed ovarian cancer after using the company’s talc products.
The US Food and Drug Administration had commissioned a study of a variety of talc samples, including Johnson & Johnson’s, from 2009 to 2010. It found no asbestos in any of them. But the prosecution lawyer told the Missouri court that the FDA and Johnson & Johnson had used flawed testing methods.
On March 10, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation in India ordered the company to pay over Rs 74.5 lakh as compensation to a patient from Maharashtra who used faulty hip implants manufactured by the pharmaceutical giant.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
25 lakh properties in Bengaluru brought under e-Khata system: Shivakumar
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday said that the state government has brought over 25 lakh properties under the e-Khata system in Bengaluru.
e-Khata is an electronic property certificate that maintains ownership information in an online database.
The e-Khata initiative aimed to ensure accuracy, transparency and universal coverage for property owners, he said.
Addressing a press conference here, Shivakumar, who is also the Bengaluru in-charge Minister, said over 25 lakh properties are being brought under the e-Khata system. Of them more than 7,000 applications have been processed, and additional outreach measures being planned for those yet to obtain their e-Khata.
"Twenty five lakh e-Khatas is a great number which has created history," he said.
The Deputy CM said the government is ensuring that every e-Khata will have its GPS, the shape of the property, and the measurement with every photo and document.
He explained that the government is integrating Aadhaar details, digital documentation, GPS mapping and property sketches to create a robust database.
"We want to see that every record is filled right. They (officials) are asking for documentation, stamp, digital documents. We wanted to connect every Aadhaar card and have it online," Shivakumar said.
To facilitate access, the Deputy CM announced the opening of more than 50 centres across Bengaluru, many of them in government schools, where citizens can apply for or rectify their e-Khata records.
"All of them will be working this Saturday. This 'Khata Mela' will be done. It is 'Nanna Khata, Nanna Swathu'," he said.
Applicants whose documents require verification will be given an acknowledgement and asked to return after 15 days, during which officials will conduct site inspections, he said.
Shivakumar said the government has also taken steps to identify and reclaim properties recorded as roads in revenue documents, asserting that such lands belong to the government.
"We have decided through the law that all the roads in the revenue records have been taken out. Those properties belong to the government itself," he said.
He noted that the initiative has received recognition from the Union government. "The Government of India has awarded us. It said that it is the model for the entire country," he said, while thanking officials involved in the project.
The Deputy CM said the government expects around 10 lakh additional households to benefit from the drive and assured that even those who have not downloaded their documents will receive printed copies free of cost at their residences.
"We will see that all the 25 lakh people will get their e-Khata to their home free of cost," Shivakumar said.
On apartment properties, he said all flats that have obtained occupancy certificates have been cleared.
"All the 37,460 flats (who have applied for e-Khata) have been issued an occupancy certificate. We have cleared all of them," the Deputy CM said.
