Talc Powder Cancer Verdicts and Lawsuits Continue To Pile Up Against Johnson & Johnson

Jury awarded $20 million this week in a talc powder cancer lawsuit that went before a Florida jury, as Johnson & Johnson continues to face a growing number of lawsuits filed since a failed bankruptcy settlement attempt.

Johnson & Johnson has been hit with another multi-million dollar verdict in a case brought over the development of mesothelioma from asbestos in the company’s talc-based products, as a steadily rising number of lawsuits continue to be brought by former users diagnosed with various different forms of cancer.

After a trial that lasted more than a month, a Florida jury awarded $20 million to Irene Casaretto, whose husband, Dr. Alberto Casaretto, Sr. died of mesothelioma after 50 years of using talcum powder as a nephrologist. The verdict comes just a couple weeks after a California jury hit Johnson & Johnson with a nearly $1 billion verdict in favor of the family of another woman, Mae Moore, who died due to similar circumstances.

Although Johnson & Johnson has continued to maintain for years that its talc powder products are safe and do not contain asbestos, a number of juries have disagreed after hearing evidence at trial.

The manufacturer now faces more than 90,000 other Baby Powder lawsuits and Shower-to-Shower lawsuits involving plaintiffs awaiting their day in trial, with the number of claims continuing to increase dramatically after Johnson & Johnson failed to force the litigation through the U.S. bankruptcy system earlier this year.

Most of the claims involve women who developed ovarian cancer or other gynecological cancers after applying the powder to the genitals, and additional trials are expected to go before juries over the next year if a global talc powder settlement is not reached to resolve the litigation.

The litigation began more than a decade ago, and the federal claims are consolidated as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the District of New Jersey before U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp, who is currently overseeing the preparation of early federal bellwether trials. However, Casaretto’s complaint was one of hundreds also filed at the state court level.

The number of claims filed on the federal docket has spiked in recent months, after Johnson & Johnson’s third attempt to resolve the litigation through bankruptcy was again rejected by a federal judge. Since then, the litigation has seen a more than 17% jump in new lawsuits, according to recent reports, with the size and scope of the litigation likely to continue increasing as more claims make their way before juries.

The first federal bellwether trial is expected to begin late this year or early next year, involving a talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuit brought by Carter Judkins, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in December 2016, after using Johnson’s Baby Powder as part of her daily routine for more than 30 years.

In addition, a California state court plans to hold three separate talcum powder bellwether trials in the coming months, focused on ovarian cancer injuries. The first of the three trials will begin on November 3 and is expected to last about four weeks. It will be followed immediately by two other similar trials.

There are also other trials scheduled for next year in New Jersey and Pennsylvania state courts.

Although the outcomes of these bellwether trials will not be binding on other plaintiffs, they will be closely watched by lawyers involved in the litigation. If the parties still fail to reach a resolution after the bellwether trials, dozens of individual cases may begin moving forward simultaneously in different courts in the coming years.

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