On Wednesday, March 27, in three separate trials held in Oklahoma, Los Angeles and New York, J&J confidentially settled three women's lawsuits which blamed asbestos-in-talc for their mesothelioma.
One of the plaintiffs was a 77-year-old woman who was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma in 2017. Her attorneys said at trial that she used J&J's talc products for 50 years, which was the reason for her cancer.J&J confirmed the settlement in the Los Angeles trial involving claims filed by the 36-year-old plaintiff who developed pleural mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure from J&J's talcum powder. The third settlement involved claims filed by a 41-year-old woman who stated in her New York suit that she developed peritoneal mesothelioma due to the use of J&J's talcum powder for feminine hygiene purposes. J&J failed in an attempt to stop a plaintiff's expert from testifying that he detected asbestos and talc in the third plaintiff's ovarian and fallopian tissue. The trial was slated to begin on April 9 in Manhattan state court.
On the same day, Middlesex County Superior Court in New Brunswick ruled in favor of J&J in a lawsuit filed by a plaintiff, which linked asbestos presence to the man's mesothelioma. In a unanimous decision, the jury found that J&J's talc was free from asbestos and was not the reason for the plaintiff's cancer. One of his attorneys, Monica Cooper, told, they were quite disappointed with the jury verdict, particularly because there was immense scientific and documentary evidence to support the allegations against the company.
