Ahead of the case management conference held on April 29, 2019, the parties involved in the talcum powder litigation submitted a joint report outlining the status of the litigation, along with the agenda for topics to be addressed in the court.
According to the report, there are around 10,556 Talcum powder lawsuits and Shower-to-Shower lawsuits filed in the federal court system along with 2,400 additional cases filed in state courts nationwide. As per the litigation, 10,000 cases have been filed by women in the U.S who allege they developed ovarian cancer, mesothelioma or other injuries due to years of asbestos exposure. The conference agenda includes the status of expert discovery, challenges to the admissibility of certain scientific evidence, pending motions and the growing number of complaints filed in state and federal courts nationwide.
U.S. District MDL Judge Freda L. Wolfson determined that plaintiffs had sufficient evidence to link talcum powder and cancer to proceed to trial under federal rules. It is expected that a small group of “bellwether” cases will be set for trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and large numbers of cases will eventually be remanded back to different federal district courts for individual trial dates in the future.
