CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Mark Robinson delivering his closing argument at the only other ovarian cancer talc trial in California to date in 2017
Los Angeles, CA - A closely watched bellwether trial begins Monday in California state court in consolidated litigation involving claims that Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based baby powder caused ovarian cancer in women, and the full trial will be webcast and recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
The pending trial will be just the second ever in California over ovarian cancer claims related to Johnson & Johnson’s cosmetic talc products. The first trial in 2017 (also recorded gavel-to-gavel by CVN) resulted in a $417 million verdict, although that award was later thrown out by the judge in the case.
The vast majority of trials to date involving products like Johnson’s Baby Powder featured both male and female plaintiffs claiming they developed mesothelioma by inhaling asbestos supposedly present in the product. Cases involving women who allegedly developed ovarian cancer after applying Baby Powder to their bodies have been far rarer, delayed by both the pandemic shutdown and a series of bankruptcy maneuvers implemented by J&J.
A number of plaintiff verdicts from an initial series of ovarian cancer trials in Missouri state court (also recorded by CVN) were tossed on appeal, however a record-setting $4.7 billion verdict obtained by attorney Mark Lanier of the Lanier Law Firm did survive despite being trimmed to $2.1 billion.
In addition to success on appeal, Johnson & Johnson also obtained numerous defense verdicts in both ovarian cancer and mesothelioma talc cases. Some of these ovarian defense verdicts took place in venues like Philadelphia where video coverage of trial proceedings is not permitted, but others in Missouri, Georgia and Florida were recorded gavel-to-gavel by CVN.
In obtaining these defense verdicts, Johnson & Johnson successfully argued exposure to talc products does not cause ovarian cancer or mesothelioma. While the company now only sells cornstarch-based baby powder, they argue Johnson’s Baby Powder never contained asbestos and that plaintiff lawsuits are based on fundamentally flawed scientific studies.
J&J and other cosmetic talc defendants often argue at trial that workers in talc mines experiencing vastly higher levels of exposure than any plaintiff don’t show correspondingly higher levels of cancer.
CVN screenshot of defense attorney Allison Brown of Kirkland & Ellis delivering her closing argument at an ovarian talc trial in St. Louis, Missouri in 2021
While talc mesothelioma trials will continue (a Florida trial covered by CVN ended this week with a $20 million verdict) the litigation focus will shift significantly to ovarian cases over the coming months. Two additional trials before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Theresa Traber are expected after this initial four-week trial concludes.
Beyond that looms the first bellwether trial in federal multi-district litigation consolidated in New Jersey in January, which will involve many of the same firms and attorneys as the California trial.
Given the obvious stakes of the case a phalanx of elite attorneys for both sides will gather in Judge Traber’s downtown Los Angeles courtroom when jury selection starts Monday.
The two plaintiffs in the case are represented by attorneys from Keisel Law LLP, Robinson Calcagnie, Beasley Allen, Wisner Baum, and Missouri-based OnderLaw.
J&J is represented by a team of talc trial veterans from Kirkland & Ellis.
CVN’s gavel-to-gavel coverage will commence with the start of opening statements and continue for the duration of the trial.
Email David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
