CVN screenshot of defense attorney Shaila Diwan delivering her closing argument
Los Angeles, CA - A California state court jury has delivered a major win for Johnson & Johnson in a bellwether trial over claims the company’s popular talc-based Baby Powder contained asbestos, and the full trial was recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
The Los Angeles County jury returned their verdict on June 5 following a lengthy trial that began in late April. The verdict comes on the heels of a $40 million plaintiff win in a similar trial last year before the same judge, potentially setting the stage for a third clash later this year over claims asbestos supposedly present in Johnson’s Baby Powder caused women to develop ovarian cancer.
Ten out of 12 jurors agreed with J&J’s claim that their products never contained asbestos and that plaintiff arguments linking talc exposure to ovarian cancer are based on fundamentally flawed science despite allegations that the company knew for years its talc-based cosmetic products contained asbestos and supposedly withheld the information from consumers.
The full trial is available for unlimited on-demand viewing with a CVN trial video library subscription, along with numerous other cosmetic talc and asbestos trials from throughout the United States and hundreds of other trials in a wide range of practice areas. Not a subscriber? Sign up today for a monthly or annual account and get instant access to the world’s only video library of civil jury trials.
The significance of the case drew a large group of elite attorneys to Judge Theresa Traber’s downtown Los Angeles courtroom in what was essentially a rematch of the initial bellwether trial last year. The families of three deceased women claiming talc exposure caused their cancer were represented by Beasley Allen, Wisner Baum and Robinson Calcagnie, with J&J turning to longtime talc trial counsel at Kirkland & Ellis.
After a lengthy pause in talc-related litigation due to a bankruptcy stay, numerous ovarian cancer-related talc cases have resumed their paths towards jury trials. While there have been numerous trials in the last decade involving both male and female plaintiffs alleging inhaled talc powder caused mesothelioma, there have been relatively few jury verdicts directly addressing ovarian cancer claims.
One such trial also being webcast by CVN is currently underway in Florida state court, and additional trials are slated for later this summer in Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Orleans.
The California trial took place under the consolidated caption Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Cases, case number JCCP4872.
Email David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
