ST. LOUIS: A jury in St. Louis has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay US$55 million to a South Dakota woman who claimed the company’s talcum powder caused her to develop ovarian cancer.

Court records show the jury returned the verdict in favor of plaintiff Gloria Ristesund on Monday.

It comes after a St. Louis jury in February awarded US$72 million to the family of an Alabama woman who sued Johnson & Johnson over ovarian cancer she said was caused by using its baby powder and other products containing talcum.

A Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman says the New Jersey-based company is beginning the process to appeal the Monday ruling.

Spokeswoman Carol Goodrich says the decision goes against decades of research that supports the safety of cosmetic talc.

-AP