A Ramsey County jury has awarded $10.2 million to a couple who claimed that talcum products manufactured and sold by body powder companies exposed the husband to asbestos and contributed to him developing cancer.

Jurors determined that plaintiffs Daniel Heyer and his wife Nicole should be compensated by St. Louis-based Vi-Jon, LLC and four other companies after Daniel had long-term exposure to body powders made or sold by the companies and he later developed mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer caused primarily by exposure to asbestos.

The couple’s lawsuit was filed in October in Ramsey County District Court against more than 50 companies that manufactured or sold talc products.

“This family is going through pain almost no one can understand and that did not need to happen. The jury in this case recognized that and acted accordingly,” said Shaina Weissman, an attorney representing the couple.

The $10.2 million award is believed to be the second-highest mesothelioma-related personal injury award in state history, according to Simon Greenstone Panatier PC, the law firm representing the couple.

Vi-Jon manufactured store-brand baby powders, body powders and foot powders using talc for years, with store-brand powders sold at stores such as Walmart, Target and Walgreens.

According to the law firm representing the Heyers, despite repeated warnings about asbestos in talc, Vi-Jon did not investigate or test its products and assured customers to continue selling it even after it stopped manufacturing its products.

Daniel Heyer was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2024 at age 43 after decades of exposure to body powders, including ones sold at Target, Walmart and Walgreens, according to the law firm. He was given one year to live and is on oxygen and using a wheelchair, with rapidly declining health, according to the law firm.

The jury found that the companies Vi-Jon, Gold Bond Co. LLC, Johnson & Johnson Company, Merck & Co. Inc. and Perrigo Company of Tennessee manufactured a dangerous product,  failed to provide adequate warning for safe use of their product and that it was a direct cause of Daniel Heyer’s cancer, according to court documents.

“We are happy that the jury heard the evidence and found justice for the Heyers. This is an important statement in Minnesota against companies that take our neighbors’ health lightly,” said Chad Alexander, an attorney representing the couple, in a statement.