爽身粉疑致卵巢癌,強生被判賠4.17億美元

In what may be the largest award so far in a lawsuit tying ovarian cancer to talcum powder, a Los Angeles jury on Monday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $417 million in damages to a medical receptionist who developed ovarian cancer after using the company’s trademark Johnson’s Baby Powder on her perineum for decades.

週一，在一起將卵巢癌與爽身粉聯繫起來的訴訟中，洛杉磯一個陪審團判定強生公司(Johnson & Johnson)應向一名導診員賠償4.17億美元，這是目前爲止最高的賠償金額。數十年來，這名導診員一直在自己的會陰周圍使用強生牌嬰兒爽身粉，後來患上卵巢癌。

Eva Echeverria, 63, of East Los Angeles is one of thousands of women who have sued the consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson claiming baby powder caused their disease, pointing to studies linking talc to cancer that date to 1971, when scientists in Wales discovered particles of talc embedded in ovarian and cervical tumors.

現年63歲、在東洛杉磯生活的伊娃·埃切韋里亞(Eva Echeverria)，是數千名起訴消費品巨頭強生公司的女性之一。她們聲稱，嬰兒爽身粉是導致她們患上癌症的原因，並指出有些研究將爽身粉與癌症聯繫在一起，最早在1971年，威爾士的科學家就發現，卵巢和宮頸腫瘤中嵌有爽身粉顆粒。

Only a few lawsuits have gone to trial, but so far most of the decisions have gone against the company. In May, a Missouri jury awarded $110 million to a Virginia woman, a year after Missouri juries awarded $55 million to one plaintiff and $72 million to a woman who died before the verdict. Another woman, Deane Berg of Sioux Falls, S.D., won a lawsuit, but the jury did not award damages.

只有幾起訴訟得以進入庭審，不過到目前爲止，大部分判決不利於該公司。今年5月，密蘇里州的一個陪審團裁定弗吉尼亞州的一名女性獲得1.1億美元賠償金，一年前，密蘇里州的陪審團判給一名原告5500萬美元的賠償金，判給另一名在裁決做出前去世的女性7200萬美元的賠償金。南達科他州的一名女性迪恩·伯格(Deane Berg)贏得了訴訟，但陪審團沒有判給她賠償金。

In March, a St. Louis jury rejected a Tennessee woman’s claim that Johnson & Johnson’s powder caused her ovarian cancer, and a New Jersey judge dismissed two talcum powder lawsuits against the company, a company spokesman said.

強生公司的一名發言人稱，今年3月，聖路易斯的一個陪審團駁回了一名田納西州女性的訴訟，她也指控強生公司的爽身粉導致她患上卵巢癌，新澤西州的一名法官駁回了兩起針對該公司爽身粉的訴訟。

Many women sprinkle baby powder on their inner thighs to prevent chafing, or use it on their perineum, sanitary pads or underwear for its drying and freshening effects.

很多女性爲緩解摩擦往大腿內側撒爽身粉，或者把它撒在會陰、衛生巾或內褲上，以達到乾爽的效果。

Ms. Echeverria, who was too sick to testify in court and gave a videotaped deposition, started using Johnson’s Baby Powder when she was 11 and continued after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007, unaware that some studies had linked talc to cancer, said her lawyer, Mark Robinson. She stopped using it after hearing news reports of a verdict in another lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, he said, and now wanted to warn other women.

因病情嚴重無法出庭作證的埃切韋里亞提供了一份視頻證詞。她的律師馬克·魯賓遜(Mark Robinson)稱，她從11歲起開始使用強生的嬰兒爽身粉，2007年被診斷患上卵巢癌之後繼續使用，她不知道有些研究已經將爽身粉與卵巢癌聯繫在一起。魯賓遜稱，在通過新聞得知另一起針對強生公司的訴訟裁決後，埃切韋里亞停止使用該產品，現在她想提醒其他女性。

“She told me, ‘I’m not doing this for myself,’” Mr. Robinson said. “She knows she’s going to die. She’s doing this for other women. She wants to do something good before she leaves.”

“她對我說，‘我不是爲了自己，’”魯賓遜說。“她知道自己要死了。她是爲了其他女性。她想在離世前做些好事。”

A spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson, Carol Goodrich, said the company would appeal the verdict handed up by a jury in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County and was preparing for additional trials. The company “will continue to defend the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder,” she said.

強生公司的發言人卡蘿爾·古德里奇(Carol Goodrich)表示，該公司將就洛杉磯縣最高法院陪審團做出的裁決進行上訴，並在爲其他庭審做準備。她說，該公司“將繼續爲強生爽身粉的安全性辯護”。

“Ovarian cancer is a devastating diagnosis and we deeply sympathize with the women and families impacted by this disease,” Ms. Goodrich said in a statement. But she added, “We will appeal today’s verdict because we are guided by the science, which supports the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder.”

“卵巢癌是一種可怕的疾病，我們爲受到這種疾病影響的女性和家庭表示深切同情，”古德里奇在一項聲明中說。不過她還說，“我們將就今天的裁決提起上訴，因爲我們是受科學指引的，而科學支持強生嬰兒爽身粉的安全性。”

The company statement pointed to a National Cancer Institute report in April that said, “The weight of evidence does not support an association between perineal talc exposure and an increased risk of ovarian cancer.”

該公司的那項聲明提到了美國國家癌症研究所(National Cancer Institute)今年4月的一份報告。該報告稱，“已有證據不足以支持在會陰周圍撒爽身粉與卵巢癌風險增加之間的聯繫。”

But elsewhere, the cancer institute uses more ambivalent language, saying “it is not clear” if talcum powder increases the risk of ovarian cancer.

但是，該癌症研究所在其他地方所用的語言則較爲含混，稱“尚不清楚”爽身粉是否會增加卵巢癌的風險。

Though numerous studies have linked genital talc use to ovarian cancer, the research findings have not been consistent. They consist mostly of epidemiological or population studies, which cannot conclusively prove a cause-and-effect relationship between an exposure and later development of cancer.

雖然有很多研究將在生殖器周圍使用爽身粉與卵巢癌聯繫起來，但研究發現不太一致。那些研究大多是流行病或人口研究，不能確鑿證明使用爽身粉與後來患上癌症之間存在因果關係。

But scientists have hypothesized that talc might lead to cancer because the crystals can move up the genitourinary tract into the peritoneal cavity, where the ovaries are, and may set off inflammation, which is believed to play an important role in the development of ovarian cancer.

不過，科學家們推測，爽身粉可能會導致癌症，因爲那些晶體可以沿着泌尿生殖通道進入卵巢所在的腹腔，從而引發炎症，而炎症被認爲在卵巢癌的發展中扮演重要角色。

The International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2006 classified talcum powder as a possible human carcinogen if used in the female genital area, but no federal agencies have acted to remove talcum powder from the market or add warnings.

2006年，國際癌症研究機構(International Agency for Research on Cancer)將爽身粉列爲潛在對人致癌物——如果在女性生殖器周圍使用的話——但是沒有任何聯邦機構採取行動，讓爽身粉下架或增加警告。

Talc is a naturally occurring clay mineral composed of magnesium and silicon that is mined in proximity to asbestos, a known carcinogen, and the Food and Drug Administration asks manufacturers to take steps to avoid contamination with asbestos.

滑石粉是一種含鎂和硅的天然土質礦物質，會和已知致癌物石棉一同開採，美國聯邦食品和藥物管理局(Food and Drug Administration)要求製造商採取措施避免被石棉污染。

Talc is used in many cosmetics products, including one formula of Johnson’s Baby Powder; another formula uses cornstarch, which has not been implicated in any studies or lawsuits about ovarian cancer.

滑石粉被用於很多化妝品，包括強生嬰兒爽身粉的一個配方，另一個配方使用的是玉米澱粉——關於卵巢癌的研究或訴訟中尚未涉及玉米澱粉。