Two Talc Suits Tossed
In an order issued Sept. 2, 2016, The Hon. Nelson C. Johnson, Superior Court of New Jersey, found that plaintiffs’ primary causation experts failed to support their claim that JOHNSON’S® Baby Powder caused ovarian cancer, and, as a result, dismissed two New Jersey cases set for trial in October 2016 and January 2017. Judge Johnson made his decision after a two-week hearing held to determine the sufficiency of the scientific evidence at the heart of this litigation.
The expert testimony and plaintiffs’ speculative theories that the judge barred in the two New Jersey cases are identical to the issues raised by plaintiffs’ lawyers in the recent St. Louis trials and are the same issues that are being raised by plaintiffs in all of the cases that have been filed around the United States.
“The ruling goes to the heart of the credibility of plaintiffs lawyers’ experts and highlights the lack of scientific evidence behind their allegations, which is relevant to all of the cases in this litigation,” said Shook partner Gene Williams, who leads Johnson & Johnson’s defense in this litigation. Other Shook team members include Hunter Ahern, Mark Hegarty, Kat Frazier and Scott James.
The suits are Brandi Carl v. Johnson & Johnson et al., suit number ATL-L-6546-14, and Diana Balderrama v. Johnson & Johnson et al., suit number ALT-L-6540-14, in the Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division, Atlantic County.
