J&J Selected Talcum Powder Lawsuit In Recent Loss
After the first talcum powder cancer lawsuit trial before the City of St. Louis Circuit Court was selected by attorneys representing plaintiffs fetched their side $72 million, a second selected by the defense again went in favor of the claimant to the tune of $55 million.
Saturday, May 7, 2016 - The latest talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuit to stand trial not only received a $55 million award in favor of the plaintiff, but was also a case selected by Johnson & Johnson. The first Johnson & Johnson's baby powder cancer lawsuit was selected by the attorneys representing the plaintiffs. This case received a $72 million award in favor of the plaintiff. Many experts are now presuming that given the large chunk of damages paid to the plaintiff in the case that the defense chose, Johnson & Johnson may move in the direction of a lump sum settlement to settle the more than 1,000 pending talcum powder lawsuits against the company.
Johnson & Johnson was permitted to select a baby powder cancer lawsuit for the second trial to be heard before the City of St. Louis Circuit Court after the choice from the other bench took place in February. The health care company selected the trial of Gloria Ristesund, a 62-year-old woman from South Dakota who had filed a talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuit against the company. Unlike the plaintiff in the first case heard before the court in which the plaintiff had passed away months before the trial, the defense likely selected this talcum powder lawsuit because not only was the plaintiff still alive, but her cancer was in remission.
Ristesund claimed that she developed ovarian cancer as a result of using Johnson & Johnson's baby powder products regularly for over 40 years. The talcum powder cancer lawyers representing Ristesund presented evidence from a number of medical studies that found substantial links between talcum powder and ovarian cancer, with the increased risk of contracting the disease as a result of talcum powder use found to be as high as 30 percent. There were also internal Johnson & Johnson documents that revealed the company had been made aware of the link between their talcum powder products and ovarian cancer as early as 1994. Along with more than 1,200 talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits currently filed against Johnson & Johnson, Ristesund claims that had the company warned consumers of the dangerous side effects its talcum powder products held, she may have been able to avoid her cancer diagnosis and all the emotion and financial troubles it put her through.
The jury sided with Ristesund arguments and awarded her $5 million in compensatory funds and fined Johnson & Johnson $50 million in punitive damages. It is the second eight-figure ruling against the company concerning a Johnson & Johnson's baby powder product. The lump sum settlement that the company may chose to offer to plaintiffs with active talcum powder lawsuits would offer far less money per claimant, but as a whole would likely far outpace the $127 million in damages that have been levied against the company in court thus far.
A third Johnson & Johnson's baby powder ovarian cancer lawsuit will take place against before the City of St. Louis Circuit Court in September. The law firm that represented Ristesund has announced it is currently reviewing upwards of 5,000 talcum powder cancer lawsuit claims for possible future litigation. Given the response of jurors hearing evidence presented by talcum powder cancer lawyers thus far, there will likely be more money moving in the direction of the plaintiffs as more trials take place over the coming months.
OnderLaw, LLC -