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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.
周一，在一起将卵巢癌与爽身粉联系起来的诉讼中，洛杉矶一个陪审团判定强生公司(Johnson & Johnson)应向一名导诊员赔偿4.17亿美元，这是目前为止最高的赔偿金额。数十年来，这名导诊员一直在自己的会阴周围使用强生牌婴儿爽身粉，后来患上卵巢癌。
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.
现年63岁、在东洛杉矶生活的伊娃·埃切韦里亚(Eva Echeverria)，是数千名起诉消费品巨头强生公司的女性之一。她们声称，婴儿爽身粉是导致她们患上癌症的原因，并指出有些研究将爽身粉与癌症联系在一起，最早在1971年，威尔士的科学家就发现，卵巢和宫颈肿瘤中嵌有爽身粉颗粒。
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.
只有几起诉讼得以进入庭审，不过到目前为止，大部分判决不利于该公司。今年5月，密苏里州的一个陪审团裁定弗吉尼亚州的一名女性获得1.1亿美元赔偿金，一年前，密苏里州的陪审团判给一名原告5500万美元的赔偿金，判给另一名在裁决做出前去世的女性7200万美元的赔偿金。南达科他州的一名女性迪恩·伯格(Deane Berg)赢得了诉讼，但陪审团没有判给她赔偿金。
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.
强生公司的一名发言人称，今年3月，圣路易斯的一个陪审团驳回了一名田纳西州女性的诉讼，她也指控强生公司的爽身粉导致她患上卵巢癌，新泽西州的一名法官驳回了两起针对该公司爽身粉的诉讼。
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.
很多女性为缓解摩擦往大腿内侧撒爽身粉，或者把它撒在会阴、卫生巾或内裤上，以达到干爽的效果。
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.
因病情严重无法出庭作证的埃切韦里亚提供了一份视频证词。她的律师马克·鲁宾逊(Mark Robinson)称，她从11岁起开始使用强生的婴儿爽身粉，2007年被诊断患上卵巢癌之后继续使用，她不知道有些研究已经将爽身粉与卵巢癌联系在一起。鲁宾逊称，在通过新闻得知另一起针对强生公司的诉讼裁决后，埃切韦里亚停止使用该产品，现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.”
“她对我说，‘我不是为了自己，’”鲁宾逊说。“她知道自己要死了。她是为了其他女性。她想在离世前做些好事。”
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.
强生公司的发言人卡萝尔·古德里奇(Carol Goodrich)表示，该公司将就洛杉矶县最高法院陪审团做出的裁决进行上诉，并在为其他庭审做准备。她说，该公司“将继续为强生爽身粉的安全性辩护”。
“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.”
“卵巢癌是一种可怕的疾病，我们为受到这种疾病影响的女性和家庭表示深切同情，”古德里奇在一项声明中说。不过她还说，“我们将就今天的裁决提起上诉，因为我们是受科学指引的，而科学支持强生婴儿爽身粉的安全性。”
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.”
该公司的那项声明提到了美国国家癌症研究所(National Cancer Institute)今年4月的一份报告。该报告称，“已有证据不足以支持在会阴周围撒爽身粉与卵巢癌风险增加之间的联系。”
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，该癌症研究所在其他地方所用的语言则较为含混，称“尚不清楚”爽身粉是否会增加卵巢癌的风险。
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.
虽然有很多研究将在生殖器周围使用爽身粉与卵巢癌联系起来，但研究发现不太一致。那些研究大多是流行病或人口研究，不能确凿证明使用爽身粉与后来患上癌症之间存在因果关系。
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.
不过，科学家们推测，爽身粉可能会导致癌症，因为那些晶体可以沿着泌尿生殖通道进入卵巢所在的腹腔，从而引发炎症，而炎症被认为在卵巢癌的发展中扮演重要角色。
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，国际癌症研究机构(International Agency for Research on Cancer)将爽身粉列为潜在对人致癌物——如果在女性生殖器周围使用的话——但是没有任何联邦机构采取行动，让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.
滑石粉是一种含镁和硅的天然土质矿物质，会和已知致癌物石棉一同开采，美国联邦食品和药物管理局(Food and Drug Administration)要求制造商采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.
滑石粉被用于很多化妆品，包括强生婴儿爽身粉的一个配方，另一个配方使用的是玉米淀粉——关于卵巢癌的研究或诉讼中尚未涉及玉米淀粉。
