A court in Los Angeles, USA, has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $966 million in damages to the family of a woman who died of a rare cancer, ruling that the company’s baby powder was responsible for her death.

According to a Reuters report, California resident May Moore passed away in 2021 at the age of 88. That same year, her family filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, claiming that the company’s baby powder contained harmful asbestos fibers, which caused her rare mesothelioma cancer.

Court documents show that on Monday evening, a jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $1.6 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages.

However, under a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, punitive damages generally should not exceed nine times the amount of compensatory damages, meaning the total amount could be reduced on appeal.

Eric Haas, Vice President of Johnson & Johnson’s legal department, described the Los Angeles court ruling as “horrific and unconstitutional” and stated that the company plans to appeal the verdict. He added that the plaintiff’s lawyers had relied on “false science” that should not have been presented to the jury.

Johnson & Johnson has consistently maintained that its products are safe, do not contain asbestos, and do not cause cancer.