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A U.S. Jury has reportedly ordered Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to pay $55 million in damages to a woman who sued the company over their talc powder. The woman claimed that the company's talc-powder products, which she used for feminine hygiene, led to the development of her ovarian cancer.

It was on Monday, May 2, that the state court jury in St. Louis awarded the plaintiff, Gloria Ristesund of Sioux Falls, $5 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages after a three-week trial, reported Reuters. The 62-year-old claimed that she used J&J's talc-based powder products on her genitals for nearly four decades.

She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2011 and had to undergo a hysterectomy and related surgeries. Her cancer is now in remission. The plaintiff has accused J&J of "wrongful and negligent conduct in the research, development, testing, manufacture, production, promotion distribution, marketing, and sale of talcum powder," reported RT.

Jere Beasley, one of Ristesund's lawyers, said his client was gratified with the verdict. He said that the jury's decision should end the litigation and force the company to settle all such pending cases.

J&J spokeswoman Carol Goodrich said the company is planning to appeal against the verdict and insisted that the court's verdict has refuted thirty years of research which approves cosmetic talc of being safe for use.

"Unfortunately, the jury's decision goes against 30 years of studies by medical experts around the world that continue to support the safety of cosmetic talc,'' Goodrich said in an e-mailed statement, reported Bloomberg. "Johnson & Johnson has always taken questions about the safety of our products extremely seriously," she added.

This is not the first time that Johnson & Johnson's talc-powder products have brought negative publicity for the company. Earlier in February this year, the same court awarded $72m in damages to the family of Jacqueline Fox who died from ovarian cancer after using J&J's Johnson's Baby Powder and Shower-to-Shower for decades.

In fact, Johnson & Johnson is currently facing about 1,200 other lawsuits. Most of the lawsuits has accused the company of ignoring studies that link its Shower-to-Shower product and Johnson's Baby Powder to ovarian cancer.