New York: In back-to-back victories for Johnson & Johnson, the courts have reversed two judgments against the consumer products giant totalling nearly $500 million. The money had been awarded to women who said that they developed ovarian cancer after using the company's talcum powder for decades.

On Friday, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge tossed out a $417 million award won in August to Eva Echeverria. She was found to have ovarian cancer in 2007, after using Johnson's Baby Powder for more than 40 years.

In her ruling, Judge Maren E. Nelson granted the company's motion for a new trial. The judge cited the "insufficiency of the evidence" and said that the damages awarded were excessive.

Echeverria has died, The Associated Press reported, but her lawyer, Mark P. Robinson Jr, said in a statement that he planned to file an appeal "immediately".

"We will continue to fight on behalf of all women who have been impacted by this dangerous product," Robinson said on Friday.

Echeverria is among thousands of women who have filed lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson after some studies found an increased risk of ovarian cancer among women who have used talc in the genital area.

Last Tuesday, a court in Missouri vacated a $72 million jury award in a case involving Jacqueline Fox, 62, of Birmingham, Alabama, who died of ovarian cancer in 2015 and who had been using Johnson's Baby Powder for more than 20 years. The court ruled that Missouri was not the proper jurisdiction for the lawsuit.

New York Times News Service