FILE - In this April 15, 2011, file photo, a bottle of Johnson's baby powder is displayed in San Francisco. A judge on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 tossed out a $417 million jury award to a woman who claimed... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this April 15, 2011, file photo, a bottle of Johnson's baby powder is displayed in San Francisco. A judge on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 tossed out a $417 million jury award to a woman who claimed... (Associated Press) 
 
 LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge on Friday tossed out a $417 million jury award to a woman who claimed she developed ovarian cancer by using Johnson & Johnson talc-based baby powder for feminine hygiene. 
 
 Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Maren Nelson granted the company's request for a new trial, saying there were errors and jury misconduct in the previous trial that ended with the award two months ago. 
 
 Nelson also ruled that there wasn't convincing evidence that Johnson & Johnson acted with malice and the award for damages was excessive. 
 
 The decision will be appealed even though Eva Echeverria has died, said her attorney, Mark Robinson Jr. 
 
 "We will continue to fight on behalf of all women who have been impacted by this dangerous product," he said in a statement. 
 
 Echeverria alleged Johnson & Johnson failed to adequately warn consumers about talcum powder's potential cancer risks. She used the company's baby powder on a daily basis beginning in the 1950s until 2016 and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007, according to court papers. 
 
 Echeverria developed ovarian cancer as a "proximate result of the unreasonably dangerous and defective nature of talcum powder," she said in her lawsuit. 
 
 Her attorney contended that documents showed that Johnson & Johnson knew about the risks of talc and ovarian cancer for three decades. 
 
 The company said it was pleased with the ruling. 
 
 "Ovarian cancer is a devastating disease — but it is not caused by the cosmetic-grade talc we have used in Johnson's Baby Powder for decades. The science is clear and we will continue to defend the safety of Johnson's Baby Powder as we prepare for additional trials in the U.S.," spokeswoman Carol Goodrich said in a statement. 
 
 Similar allegations have led to hundreds of lawsuits against the New Jersey-based company. Jury awards have totaled hundreds of millions of dollars. 
 
 However, on Tuesday a Missouri appellate court threw out a $72 million award to the family of an Alabama woman who has died, ruling that the state wasn't the proper jurisdiction for such a case. 
 
 The court cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that placed limits on where injury lawsuits could be filed, saying state courts cannot hear claims against companies not based in the state where alleged injuries occurred. ||||| (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) suffered its first trial loss in a lawsuit claiming its talc-based products including Johnson’s Baby Powder contain cancer-causing asbestos, with a New Jersey jury on Thursday ordering J&J; and another company to pay $37 million in damages. 
 
 FILE PHOTO: A Johnson & Johnson building is shown in Irvine, California, U.S., January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo 
 
 The verdict of liability in Middlesex County Superior Court in New Brunswick came as J&J; fights thousands of cases claiming its talc products can also cause ovarian cancer. The jury found J&J; and another company liable after more than two months of trial. 
 
 The lawsuit was brought by New Jersey resident Stephen Lanzo, who said he developed mesothelioma after inhaling dust that was generated through his regular use of J&J; talc powder products since his birth in 1972. 
 
 Mesothelioma is a deadly form of cancer closely associated with exposure to asbestos. It affects the delicate tissue that lines body cavities, most often around the lungs, but also in the abdomen and elsewhere. 
 
 The jury awarded Lanzo $30 million and his wife $7 million in compensatory damages. It found J&J; was responsible for 70 percent of the damages and said a unit of France-based Imerys SA (IMTP.PA), its talc supplier, was responsible for 30 percent. 
 
 The jury will return on Tuesday for further proceedings to determine whether to award punitive damages, according to an online broadcast of the trial by Courtroom View Network. 
 
 J&J; denied the allegations and says Johnson’s Baby Powder does not contain asbestos or cause cancer. 
 
 J&J; in a statement said it was disappointed but would withhold further comment until the trial’s completion. Gwen Myers, an Imerys spokeswoman, said Imerys plans to appeal and is confident talc did not cause Lanzo’s cancer. 
 
 The Lanzos did not respond to requests for comment. 
 
 J&J;, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, faces talc-related lawsuits by 6,610 plaintiffs nationally, largely based on claims it failed to warn women about the risk of developing ovarian cancer by using its products for feminine hygiene. 
 
 In five trials in Missouri involving ovarian cancer lawsuits, juries found J&J; liable four times and awarded the plaintiffs a total of $307 million. In California, a jury awarded a now-deceased woman $417 million. 
 
 But in October, a Missouri appellate court threw out the first verdict there for $72 million and a California judge tossed the $417 million verdict. J&J; is seeking to reverse the other verdicts. 
 
 Asbestos claims are a more recent challenge for J&J.; It won the only other asbestos-related trial in November when a Los Angeles Superior Court jury ruled in its favor. 
 
 (This story corrects headline to show case was J&J;’s first trial loss in an asbestos-related case involving talc, not first loss in talc cancer lawsuit. Corrects paragraph 1 to say both J&J; and another company have been ordered to pay $37 mln, not just J&J;) ||||| A St. Louis jury on Thursday awarded a California woman more than $70 million in her lawsuit alleging that years of using Johnson & Johnson's baby powder caused her cancer, the latest case raising concerns about the health ramifications of extended talcum powder use. 
 
 The jury ruling ended the trial that began Sept. 26 in the case brought by Deborah Giannecchini of Modesto, California. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012. The suit accused Johnson & Johnson of "negligent conduct" in making and marketing its baby powder. 
 
 "We are pleased the jury did the right thing," said Jim Onder, an attorney for the plaintiff. "They once again reaffirmed the need for Johnson & Johnson to warn the public of the ovarian cancer risk associated with its product." 
 
 Carol Goodrich, a spokeswoman with Johnson & Johnson, could not immediately be reached for comment. In a statement provided to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, she said: "We deeply sympathize with the women and families impacted by ovarian cancer. We will appeal today's verdict because we are guided by the science, which supports the safety of Johnson's Baby Powder." 
 
 Earlier this year, two other lawsuits in St. Louis ended in jury verdicts worth a combined $127 million. But two others in New Jersey were thrown out by a judge who said there wasn't reliable evidence that talc leads to ovarian cancer, an often fatal but relatively rare form of cancer. Ovarian cancer accounts for about 22,000 of the 1.7 million new cases of cancer expected to be diagnosed in the U.S. this year. 
 
 About 2,000 women have filed similar suits, and lawyers are reviewing thousands of other potential cases, most generated by ads touting the two big verdicts out of St. Louis — a $72 million award in February to relatives of an Alabama woman who died of ovarian cancer, and a $55 million award in May to a South Dakota survivor of the disease. 
 
 Much research has found no link or a weak one between ovarian cancer and using baby powder for feminine hygiene, and most major health groups have declared talc harmless. Johnson & Johnson, whose baby powder dominates the market, maintains it's perfectly safe. 
 
 But Onder of the Onder Law Firm in suburban St. Louis, which represented plaintiffs in all three St. Louis cases, cited other research that began connecting talcum powder to ovarian cancer in the 1970s. He said case studies have indicated that women who regularly use talc on their genital area face up to a 40 percent higher risk of developing ovarian cancer.
– A judge on Friday tossed out a $417 million jury award to a woman who claimed she developed ovarian cancer by using Johnson & Johnson talc-based baby powder for feminine hygiene, the AP reports. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Maren Nelson granted the company's request for a new trial, saying there were errors and jury misconduct in the previous trial that ended with the award two months ago. Nelson also ruled that there wasn't convincing evidence that Johnson & Johnson acted with malice and the award for damages was excessive. The decision will be appealed even though Eva Echeverria has died, said her attorney, Mark Robinson Jr. "We will continue to fight on behalf of all women who have been impacted by this dangerous product," he said in a statement. Echeverria alleged Johnson & Johnson failed to adequately warn consumers about talcum powder's potential cancer risks. She used the company's baby powder on a daily basis beginning in the 1950s until 2016 and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007, according to court papers. Her attorney contended that documents showed that Johnson & Johnson knew about the risks of talc and ovarian cancer for three decades. But a company rep says in a statement, "Ovarian cancer is a devastating disease—but it is not caused by the cosmetic-grade talc we have used in Johnson's Baby Powder for decades. The science is clear." Similar allegations have led to hundreds of lawsuits against the New Jersey-based company. Jury awards have totaled hundreds of millions of dollars. However, a $72 million award was also thrown out Tuesday.