New Jersey Talcum Multicounty Litigation Approved
The New Jersey Supreme Court made talcum powder lawsuit news in ruling to consolidate 103 talcum powder lawsuits in New Jersey before a single state judge.
Monday, December 7, 2015 - On November 25, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in approval of a motion to transfer more than 100 talcum powder cancer lawsuits into multicounty litigation. The ruling, which according to talcum powder cancer lawsuit news was expected from both defendants and plaintiffs, will combine the lawsuits before a single state judge at the Atlantic City Superior Court. The lawsuits were consolidated before Judge Julio L. Mendez and Judge Nelson C. Johnson, and will soon hold their first status conference and prepare to begin pretrial proceedings.
87 of the 103 total talcum powder lawsuits pending in the state were already filed in the Atlantic City Superior Court, and after the transfer of the 16 from other districts, the defendants and plaintiffs will move forward in the multicounty litigation before a single state judge. Both sides supported the motion to transfer the lawsuits into multicounty litigation, however they differed as to where they hoped they would be centralized. The defendants had lobbied for the Atlantic City Superior Court, which the plaintiffs were hoping for the lawsuits to be sent to the Middlesex County Court.
The products named in the lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson are the company's Baby Powder and Shower to Shower products. Plaintiffs have referenced a number of studies that have produced talcum powder research demonstrating the association between talcum powder and ovarian cancer. Particles from the product reportedly make their way up a woman's vaginal tract and solidify in the ovaries. This process leads to an increased risk in ovarian cancer, with research estimating the probability of that increase being anywhere from 20 to 35 percent.
The two largest talcum powder lawsuit groups in the country are currently in litigation in St. Louis and New Jersey. The St. Louis lawsuits, which includes roughly 50 plaintiffs, recently underwent a status conference hearing to decide which cases would proceed to trial and which ones were fit to be resolved outside of court. These lawsuits name Johnson & Johnson as a defendant, as well as Imerys Talc America (a talc mining company) and Walgreens (as a distributor) in their claims that all these companies ignored the studies showing that talc could increase the risk of ovarian cancer for women. Consumers will be keeping an eye out for talcum powder lawsuit news coming from both parties in 2016.
The first talcum powder lawsuit filed went to trial and saw the jury award in favor of the plaintiff, however awarded them no damages. Since then, hundreds of lawsuits nationwide have been filed with similar claims of an increased risk in ovarian cancer caused by talcum powders. Plaintiffs claim that Johnson & Johnson failed to warn customers of the potential risk despite a number of studies that repeatedly found a strong connection between the product and ovarian cancer. Plaintiffs allege that Johnson & Johnson withheld information relating to the ovarian cancer risk from the public in an effort to protect the marketability of their products.
Already over 700 lawsuits, talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuit news stories are reporting that the number of cases filed against the manufacturers and distributors of talcum powder are expected to grow. Building on the affirmative jury verdict given to the first talcum powder lawsuit, the current filings seek to recover damages from the defendants for failing to warn consumers of the dangers associated with their talcum powder products.
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