A jury trial is underway in Texas to determine if Johnson & Johnson is responsible for a man developing mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer, after decades of using the company’s baby powder.
Jerry Newton exclusively used J&J’s baby powder for years, not knowing what the company knew – that the product contained asbestos, Newton’s attorney, Aaron Chapman, told jurors during opening statements in Dallas County District Court.
However, J&J maintains that half a century of scientific evidence disproves any link between its cosmetic talc products and mesothelioma. Collin Cox of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, the firm representing J&J, argued that Newton could have been exposed to asbestos when working as a repairman on military bases.
The Link Between Asbestos, Talc, and Mesothelioma
Asbestos exposure is the only known risk factor for mesothelioma, which most commonly originates in the lungs. Those with mesothelioma often don’t develop the disease until 20 or 40 years after asbestos exposure.
Talcum powder is often laced with talc, which can be contaminated with asbestos during mining because the two minerals tend to be located near each other as a result, women – and sometimes men – who repeatedly use products containing commercial talc risk exposure to asbestos, according to research. It is more common for women to develop ovarian cancer due to the exposure, but both men and women contract mesothelioma in some cases.
Trial Follows Recent Court Victories Against J&J
Newton’s civil suit, one of the first cosmetic talc cases to be tried in Texas, is taking place just after a jury in Oregon ordered J&J to pay $260 million to a woman who also was diagnosed with mesothelioma after inhaling its baby powder for decades. Similarly to the Newton case, J&J argued that the victim’s illness resulted from a different form of asbestos exposure. However, the jury didn’t buy it.
In April, an Illinois jury handed down a $45 million verdict against J & J&J in the case of a mother and grandmother who contracted the fatal disease. Dallas-based Dean Omar Branham Shirley represented the plaintiffs in both the Oregon and Illinois trials and is also representing Newton.
J&J Attempting to Settle Ovarian Cancer Lawsuits
In the midst of the most recent talc verdicts against J&J, the company continues efforts to convince thousands of ovarian cancer victims who filed claims against it to agree to a $6.48 billion settlement agreement. However, the women and their attorneys are fighting back, filing a class action lawsuit against the company. They claim J&J used fraudulent practices to avoid paying them damages.
One of the tactics the claimants say J&J engaged in was “bad faith bankruptcy filings to hinder, delay, and defraud these women and prevent them from ever having their day in court before a jury of their peers,” according to a complaint filed May 22 in U.S. District Court of New Jersey.
The company’s two previous bankruptcy attempts failed. After the first failure, J&J announced it was lowering its previous $61.5 billion settlement proposal to $29.2 billion. Following the second failed attempt, the company reduced the proposed settlement ever further to $6.48 billion. If that deal is approved, J&J intends to pay claimants through a third bankruptcy.
