Baby-powder maker Johnson & Johnson will attempt to prevent future losses from thousands of talc lawsuits in a hearing slated to begin on Monday
By Peter Loftus and Sara Randazzo July 21, 2019 5:30 am ET Johnson & Johnson , JNJ -1.33% still facing thousands of lawsuits over the safety of its signature baby powder after losing several trials, will make a high-stakes attempt to head off future losses in a courtroom battle beginning Monday.
But most of the talc claims—around 12,000—are pending in federal courts, and none has been scheduled for trial. A federal judge in Trenton, N.J., Freda L. Wolfson, is overseeing coordinated pretrial proceedings of the federal talc lawsuits, in what is known as multidistrict litigation. Read more Many of the women who sued J&J used talc powder for feminine hygiene, and the lawsuits allege that talc particles can migrate to the fallopian tubes and ovaries, and trigger an inflammatory process leading to cancer.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers have asked the judge to deny J&J’s request, arguing that the experts are qualified and used reliable methodologies to reach their opinions. The plaintiffs say there are about 35 peer-reviewed studies that show a link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer, most pointing to an increased risk of between 25% and 45%. The plaintiffs’ lawyers also have argued that the opinions of certain of J&J’s 18 expert witnesses should be excluded from trials.
At the hearing, expected to last more than a week, some of the expert witnesses for both sides will face questions from the judge and lawyers. The judge could take weeks or months to reach a decision. If she allows plaintiffs’ expert testimony about causation, it could clear the way for federal trials to begin.
“The idea is that when an expert testifies in front of a jury, we know that jury is going to give that testimony a significant amount of weight,” said Adrienne Franco Busby, a partner with Faegre Baker Daniels who defends drug and medical-device makers in product-liability litigation, and isn’t involved in the talc litigation. “This is a third party coming to give some specialized technical knowledge. So when they do that, it has to be legit.
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