Talcum Powder Legal News Articles & Interviews

St. Louis, MO A panel of three judges with the Missouri Appeals Court has found Johnson & Johnson “Outrageous because of Evil Motive or Reckless Indifference” and upheld an award of over $2 billion in damages: $500 million in compensatory damages, plus another $1.62 billion in punitive damages. This group of 22 ovarian cancer victims-- all of whom developed ovarian cancer from J&J’s baby powder-- has now received the sixth largest award in U.S. legal history. 

Washington, DC For the first time ever, Johnson & Johnson recalled its baby powder (specifically single lot #22318RB, comprising 33,000 bottles) after the FDA announced trace levels of asbestos were found—purchased from an online retailer. J&J said it is working with the FDA to determine whether the product tested is authentic, counterfeit, or whether cross-contamination of the sample caused a false positive. And it also shows how the FDA lacks the ability to test consumer talc products.

Torrance, CA: To date, Johnson and Johnson has lost 14 talcum powder lawsuits (and is appealing most of those), has won seven cases, and five mesothelioma cases have resulted in hung juries and mistrials. The pharma giant is still facing over 14,000 lawsuits alleging its baby powder contained asbestos talc and caused cancer. Two California juries in October, however, rejected allegations that J&J’s talc contained asbestos and caused mesothelioma.

New JerseyJohnson & Johnson struck another loss in its asbestos talc trial September 11, 2019, and the pharma giant has been ordered to pay $37.3 to four plaintiffs – after the defendants’ attorney called the plaintiffs’ attorney “sinister”, according to Courtroom View Network. That seemed to be enough for the judge, the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.

New Brunswick, NJ: Johnson & Johnson presented scientific literature during the latest asbestos talc trial on August 9 indicating a “weak link” between peritoneal mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, challenging testimony of pathologist John Maddox and the four plaintiffs who have been diagnosed with this form of cancer. All four were exposed to asbestos in J&J baby powder when they were babies, which allegedly caused their terminal cancer. Babies are even more susceptible to the risks of asbestos exposure because their cells are still developing and because they breathe faster, increasing the amount of asbestos they might breathe in, plaintiff’s attorney Moshe Maimon told the jury.

New York, NY: A Johnson & Johnson shareholder in February 2018 filed a securities class action claiming that J&J has known its talcum powder contains asbestos fibers and that exposure to J&J’s talc can cause mesothelioma and ovarian cancer. Shareholders are now urging a federal judge to move forward with the lawsuit because they purportedly have evidence showing that the company has known since the 1970s about the dangers of its talc and chose testing methods that couldn’t detect the cancer-causing asbestos fibers.

Alameda, CA: Patricia Schmitz, age 61, a mother of two with grandchildren and former school teacher, was diagnosed with mesothelioma last year and her doctors say she has little chance to survive. Her asbestos talc case states that J&J products caused the disease; J&J’s attorneys and expert witness argued her cancer was “spontaneous in nature”. The jury awarded Schmitz $12 million in damages.

South Carolina Donna Olson used J&J talc since she was a young girl, breathing in talc particles from the cloud she made. Teresa Leavitt’s mother used J&J’s baby powder on her as a baby in the 1960s and she continued to use it herself as a teen, powdering her face and hair daily for years. Both women testified in court last week and both women won their asbestos-talc lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson.

Oakland, CA On March 13, a jury in California Superior Court awarded Terry Leavitt and her husband $29.4 million in the first Johnson & Johnson (J&J) talcum powder lawsuit to go to trial in 2019. Ms. Leavitt linked her mesothelioma diagnosis to her use of asbestos-contaminated J&J baby powder and Shower-to-Shower talcum powder. The verdict includes $22 million for pain and suffering, $5 million in compensatory damages, nearly $1.3 million for her medical costs and $1.2 million for lost wages.

Washington, DC The long-running Johnson & Johnson (J&J) talcum powder lawsuits have now taken a strangely contemporary turn as long-silent witnesses, both in this world and the next, tell tales. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have subpoenaed corporate documents, and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) has requested information back to 1966. Could this end the corporate stonewalling that has stymied so many J&J talcum powder lawsuits for so long?