Markham, Ontario, Canada - May 21, 2018: Johnson & Johnson Medical Products company in Markham, Ontario, a division of Johnson & Johnson Inc.
An August appeals court decision in New Jersey may reopen the door for more than 1,000 lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson to proceed. This specific group of suits accuses the healthcare and consumer goods giant of knowingly selling talc-based baby powder that caused ovarian cancer.
The appellate court ruled that the trial judge made a mistake by throwing out expert testimony favoring two women’s claims that talc caused them to develop ovarian cancer. The ruling means that these two cases are now cleared for trial. It could also mean that other talc cases pending before the same judge could go forward, too.
A lawyer for one of the two women said, “There are approximately 1,000 ovarian cancer cases currently filed in New Jersey state court, with more to come. This ruling paves the way for those cases to proceed to trial.”
The outcome was not what J&J expected. Based in New Jersey, J&J thought they might have a home-court advantage.
A J&J spokesperson said, “We respect the court’s decision and are fully prepared to defend the safety of our product in court. We remain confident that our talc is safe, asbestos-free, and does not cause cancer.”
After thousands of lawsuits were filed across the country, J&J in May finally pulled its baby powder off store shelves in the U.S. and Canada. Meanwhile, the number of cases filed against J&J alleging that their baby powder caused cancer keeps growing, rising 15% in 2020, according to the company’s security filings.
The Insurance Journal now counts more than 20,000 talc cases pending against J&J. Some of the cases allege that the talc itself causes cancer, while others claim that the talc was contaminated with asbestos—the mineral known to be the primary cause of mesothelioma. This mineral was present in J&J’s talc mines.
The Insurance Journal reports that it may cost the company as much as $10 billion to resolve the lawsuits.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, mesothelioma or any other cancer that you believe could be the result of baby powder use, we encourage you to contact the attorneys here at Ted B. Lyon & Associates. Our Dallas firm is one of Texas’s leaders in pursuing these types of lawsuits.
Get a free, no-obligation evaluation of your potential claim by calling our office at 877-Ted-Lyon / 877-833-5966
or send us a message.
