Plaintiffs Agree To New Jersey Multicounty Consolidation
Plaintiffs involved in the New Jersey talcum powder lawsuits agreed to the multicounty litigation transfer request filed by defendant Johnson & Johnson, though preferred a different court to house the litigation.
Monday, August 3, 2015 - Plaintiffs that are a part of more than 100 talcum powder lawsuits in New Jersey have agreed to consolidate the lawsuits into multicounty litigation before a single state judge. The move to consolidate the lawsuits was initiated by the defendant Johnson & Johnson, which is dealing with allegations that the company was aware of the cancerous element of its talcum powder products and failed to warn consumers of the potential risk.
The court to which the lawsuits will be transferred is still under dispute. Johnson & Johnson originally requested for the lawsuits to be consolidated into multicounty litigation in late June before Judge Nelson C. Johnson, who presides over the Atlantic Superior Court. The plaintiffs in their agreement to enter into multicounty litigation however chose to request the litigation be transferred before Judge Jessica R. Mayer, who presides over the Middlesex County Court.
The main argument for the plaintiff in requested a different judge is based on the caseload currently pending at each of the courts. The Middlesex County court is currently presiding over just more than 5,000 cases, while the Atlantic Superior Court has nearly 7,000 on their docket. The plaintiffs have requested the lawsuits be filed in Middlesex with the lower case load, while Johnson & Johnson prefer the Atlantic Superior Court, which is closer to the company's headquarters.
The Johnson & Johnson talcum products named in the lawsuits are the company's Baby Powder and Shower to Shower products. The plaintiffs claim that both products have been linked repeatedly to an increased risk in ovarian cancer in a number of studies dating back to the 1970's. The link between the mineral talc and asbestos has been well known for a while, as the two occur naturally in the same areas in the earth. The danger of mining for talc haphazardly was address by a 1973 FDA measure that eliminated the presence of asbestos in talcum powders.
However, the currently lawsuits claim that talc in itself is causing an increase in the risk of cancer for women. The plaintiffs claim that talcum powder is able to travel up the vaginal tract and reach the ovaries, where they can act as a catalyst for cancer development. The lawsuits claim that the talcum powder cancer research backing up their claim has been around for years and the Johnson & Johnson chose to look the other way in an effort to keep the product marketable. The lawsuits allege that a warning should have been affixed to the products informing consumers of the potential risk that talcum powder can pose to women, and multiple research studies have been published by colleges and in medical journals detailing links to an increased risk in ovarian cancer.
The New Jersey lawsuits are just a piece of the more than 700 involved in talcum powder litigation around the country. Other defendants include companies such as Walgreens and talc mining company Imerys. Most of the lawsuits are based in litigation taking place in New Jersey and St. Louis, where dozens of talcum powder lawsuits just passed through a status conference hearing which determined the cases that will proceed to trial.
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