Johnson & Johnson asked a federal judge to take over more than 2,400 talcum powder lawsuits, instead of allowing those cases to go before state court juries in the country.
The talcum giant is trying to take advantage of the legal protections granted to its talc supplier Imerys Talc America Inc. under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allowed them to temporarily halt lawsuits it faced. Since J&J has not filed for bankruptcy protection, it cannot demand to halt state-court litigation or the transfer of cases to a federal court. J&J said in court papers, "because the claims raise common questions of fact, law, and science, the current nationwide round of pre-trial information exchanges is duplicative, unpredictable, and wasteful.”
J&J has been facing 14,000 talcum powder lawsuits, each raising a common allegation that asbestos exposure from the company’s talc-based products causes ovarian cancer or mesothelioma. The company continues to vehemently deny carcinogen presence in its talc products.
