Talc Powder Cancer Lawsuits Continue To Hammer Johnson & Johnson, As New Cases Continue To Be Filed
More than six years after our talc powder lawyers first began investigating potential claims for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer caused by Johnson’s Baby Powder, Shower-to-Shower and other similar products, the size of the litigation continues to grow and strengthen for plaintiffs.
Find Out If You Have a TALCUM POWDER CASE
While Johnson & Johnson has refused to negotiate talc powder settlements for women diagnosed with cancer, the company has been hit with a string of setbacks over the past year, and it now appears it will face a series of trial dates in the federal court system that may begin next year if it does not change its defense strategy.
- October 2019: Johnson’s Baby Powder Recall issued after asbestos is found by FDA in certain bottles;
- April 2020: U.S. District Judge presiding over the federal litigation rejects Johnson & Johnson’s attempts to exclude plaintiffs expert witnesses from testifying, clearing the way for first bellwether talc powder trials to be scheduled.
- May 2020: Johnson & Johnson announces that it will remove talc-based Baby Powder from the market in the United States and Canada;
- June 2020: Missouri Appeals court upholds a landmark ruling for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer from talc powder, indicating that Johnson & Johnson should be required to pay $2 billion in damages;
- July 2020: Bellwether trial order in the federal court system calls for completion of discovery in a small group of cases by January 29, 2021.
Amid these developments, new talc powder cancer lawsuits are still being accepted and investigated by Saiontz & Kirk, P.A., and it may not be too late to seek financial compensation if you or a loved one developed ovarian cancer following long-term exposure to Johnson’s Baby Powder or Shower-to-Shower. To review a potential claim, request a free consultation and case evaluation.
Johnson & Johnson Has Been Unable to Defend Safety of Talc Powder
Despite a growing mountain of evidence establishing a link between talc powder and cancer, Johnson & Johnson has attempted to maintain that its products do not increase the risk of ovarian cancer or asbestos-related illnesses, such as mesothelioma.
In recent years, the company has rested most of its legal defense on an argument that plaintiffs’ expert witnesses would be excluded from testifying at trial under the federal Daubert standard. However, earlier this year, the U.S. District Judge presiding over the litigation rejected this argument, determining that the opinions offered by plaintiffs’ experts are sufficiently reliable and based on sound science to allow the cases to proceed to federal jury trials.
Following this ruling, the Court randomly selected 1,000 talcum powder lawsuits pending in the federal court system for a bellwether process, which will end in a series of trials designed to help the parties gauge how juries are likely to respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the litigation.
According to a court order issued last week, a group of 30 representative cases will now be selected from this bellwether pool, which will go through case-specific discovery over the rest of this year, potentially setting the table for the first federal trials to be scheduled in 2021.
Although no federal talc powder lawsuits have yet gone to trial, Johnson & Johnson has been hammered with massive verdicts in a number of state court cases, after juries were presented with all of the evidence about when the company knew or should have known that their products caused cancer and how they continued to market Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower-to-Shower powder without warning users.
In July 2018, a Missouri jury awarded more than $4.7 billion in damages to a group of 22 women who all went to trial together, alleging that each developed ovarian cancer following years of exposure to Johnson & Johnson talc powder products.
Earlier this month, a Missouri appeals court rejected Johnson & Johnson’s attempt to entirely overturn this verdict. While the Court did reduce the verdict, the judges still indicated that Johnson & Johnson should be required to pay more than $2 billion in damages indicating in the ruling:
A reasonable inference from all this evidence is that, motivated by profits, Defendants disregarded the safety of consumers despite their knowledge the talc in their Products caused ovarian cancer. The jury, exercising its “right to determine credibility, weigh the evidence and draw justifiable inferences of fact,” could have reasonably concluded it was highly probable Defendants’ conduct “was outrageous because of evil motive or reckless indifference” based on this evidence.
While each talc powder lawsuit will need to be weighed individually, it appears increasingly evidence that the defenses Johnson & Johnson has been mounting over the past few years are crumbling and proving to carry little chance of success at trial.
Talc Powder Lawyers Provide Free Case Evaluation
The product liability lawyers of Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. are continuing to review potential lawsuits for individuals who have suffered ovarian cancer, mesothelioma or other asbestos-related illnesses following long-term use of Baby Powder and Shower-to-Shower talc-based products.
All claims are handled by our law firm on a contingency fee basis, which means that there are never any out-of-pocket costs associated with retaining our talc powder lawyers to pursue your case. We only receive an attorney fee or expenses if we are successful obtaining a settlement or recovery in your case.
To determine whether you or a loved one may have a case, call 1-800-522-0102 or request a free case evaluation.
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