J&J Seeks Speedy Talcum Powder Lawsuit MDL Process
The health care company, which faces more than 2,000 baby powder cancer lawsuits, is hoping that a speedy bellwether process in multidistrict litigation will help disprove more than 20 medical studies suggesting a connection between talcum powder and ovarian cancer.
Saturday, November 19, 2016 - Johnson & Johnson has made it clear that the company is seeking a quick bellwether process that will prove the central claims in more than 2,000 talcum powder lawsuits nationwide rely on faulty science. The company requested for a motion to transfer litigation into an MDL in July be consolidated, and received its wish on October 4 when the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred federal litigation to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The defendants now will attempt to disprove more than four decades of research studies that have discovered links between talcum powder and ovarian cancer.
The transfer of the federal Johnson & Johnson's baby powder ovarian cancer lawsuits into an MDL come to pass because of the large number of claims made and the common questions of fact all the plaintiffs' allegations brought up. The talcum powder lawsuits claim that Johnson & Johnson did not do enough to warn consumers of the serious consequences women could suffer if they used the company's popular cosmetic for vaginal hygiene. Talcum powder lawyers representing women from all over the country claim that they contracted ovarian cancer as a result of using Johnson & Johnson baby powder and at no point received a warning concerning the medical research linking to the product to the disease.
Johnson & Johnson conversely claims that the medical research that exists linking the disease to talcum powder does not accurately represent the nature of their product, and is looking to disprove the decades of research via discovery and litigation in multidistrict litigation. The health care giant claims to have its own research that demonstrates no significant link exists between talcum powder and ovarian cancer, and is hoping that future trials will prove more beneficial for the company that the decisions reach in court in 2016.
Thus far, Johnson & Johnson's overtures regarding the safety of its talcum powder products have not been received favorably by juries hearing baby powder lawsuits. The three talcum powder lawsuits that made it to trial this year, all before the City of St. Louis Circuit Court, all resolved in favor of the plaintiffs. Combined, the damages awarded to those plaintiffs reached nearly $200 million and led to many legal experts suggesting that Johnson & Johnson would be better off cutting its losses and settling nationwide talcum powder lawsuits instead of continuing to contest a losing fight.
Johnson & Johnson's attempt to delegitimize the allegations made against the company was given some hope in September, when a judge overseeing multicounty litigation in New Jersey dismissed a pair of talcum powder lawsuits based on insufficient science behind the claims. While this was a blow to talcum powder attorneys representing plaintiffs at the time, there was a trial that took place roughly a month after that decision that awarded the plaintiff close to $70 million. While Johnson & Johnson may be hoping to speed through the multidistrict litigation process to reach another decision similar to the one made by the New Jersey state judge, the possibility that the company is careening toward a less favorable outcome remains viable, if not likely.
OnderLaw, LLC -