Hair Relaxer Lawsuits and Talcum Powder Lawsuits Designated as New Mass Torts in Philadelphia

The first Pennsylvania talcum powder lawsuit trial has already been scheduled for January 2025, but a growing number of claims are being brought in the state court system.

Pennsylvania state court officials have established consolidated pretrial proceedings for all hair relaxer lawsuits and talcum powder lawsuits brought in Philadelphia, establishing two new mass torts, both of which already include tens of thousands of similar claims moving forward in the federal court system.

L’Oreal, Revlon and other leading cosmetic companies already face more than 12,000 product liability lawsuits over hair relaxers filed in U.S. District Courts nationwide, each raising similar allegations that women developed uterine cancer, endometrial cancer or ovarian cancer after long-term exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals in Dark & Lovely, Just for Me, Optimum, ORS Olive Oil and other popular hair relaxers.

In the case of the talcum powder lawsuits, Johnson & Johnson has faced about 90,000 Baby Powder lawsuits and Shower-to-Shower lawsuits, each raising similar allegations that the company’s talc-based products were often contaminated with asbestos, causing women to develop ovarian cancer, mesothelioma and other injuries after applying the powder to their genitals.

While each of the litigations has been ongoing in the federal court system for years, as more women continue to file claims in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, the new mass torts were established to help manage discovery and pretrial proceedings.

According to a report published in the Legal Intelligencer on May 29, Philadelphia Administrative Judge Daniel Anders issued a pair of court orders in April, creating the hair relaxer and talcum powder mass torts.

They currently consist of about 25 hair relaxer lawsuits and 26 talcum powder lawsuits, which will be centralized before the same judge to reduce the risk of contradicting rulings, duplicative discovery, and to serve the convenience of experts, witnesses and the Court.

According to the report, Johnson & Johnson requested the talcum powder mass tort be formed after its third talcum powder bankruptcy attempt was rejected earlier this year, allowing a number of state court cases to begin moving forward. The Legal Intelligencer has said that the first two Pennsylvania talcum powder lawsuits are already scheduled to go to trial in January 2026 and April 2026.

While a number of state court talcum powder lawsuits have already resulted in massive verdicts, nearly all of the remaining litigation is currently pending in the federal MDL (multidistrict litigation), where no individual cases have gone to trial.

No trial date has yet been set for the first Pennsylvania hair relaxer lawsuits, but the state court proceedings are expected to move much quicker than the federal litigation, which is currently centralized in the Northern District of Illinois, where the first bellwether trials are not expected to begin until at least 2027.

While the outcome of early trials held in the federal court system or Philadelphia mass torts will not be binding on other women pursuing talcum powder lawsuits or hair relaxer lawsuits, they will be closely watched by lawyers involved in the litigations to help gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that may be repeated throughout the claims. The average jury verdicts could have a significant impact on any hair relaxer settlement agreements or talcum powder settlement agreements.