Christopher Tisi, left, and Michael Brown deliver openings at trial against Johnson & Johnson over the mesothelioma death of a Florida physician who used the company's talcum powder products for years. Watch the trial.
Fort Lauderdale, FL— Attorneys Wednesday debated whether Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder products caused the mesothelioma death of a Florida physician, as trial opened against the consumer products giant. Casaretto v. Johnson & Johnson, CACE18028502.
Dr. Alberto Casaretto, Sr., 79, a nephrologist who had practiced in the Fort Lauderdale area for decades, died in 2022 of mesothelioma, a cancer that develops in the lining of the lungs. Casaretto’s family claims asbestos in J&J talc-based products that Casaretto used for nearly 50 years caused his disease.
On Wednesday, the Casaretto family’s attorney, Levin Papantonio’s Christopher Tisi, walked jurors through evidence he said would show J&J’s talcum powder contained asbestos. He said that company documents showed J&J knew for decades that asbestos could be present in its talc, but employed testing methods that would not be sensitive enough to properly detect it.
And Tisi added that the company refused for years to replace talc in its products with corn starch as a safer alternative.
“They didn’t switch to cornstarch, and they didn’t tell anyone what they knew. They continued to say talc was pure,” Tisi said. “And they marketed to men, women, and for use on children.”
But J&J pushed back on those claims. In his opening Wednesday, Nelson Mullins’ Michael Brown, representing the company, told jurors evidence would show J&J’s talc did not contain asbestos.
Nonetheless, Brown added that asbestos was present throughout the environment at low, “background levels,” which are not considered dangerous. And he said that, even if plaintiffs’ expert's conclusions on asbestos in J&J’s talc were true, those levels were not high enough to pose a disease threat.
“The dose is what matters,” Brown said. “And even if you take the plaintiff’s worst case scenario—and we submit to you, respectfully, that there is no asbestos in Johnson’s Baby Powder—it isn’t enough to cause Dr. Casaretto’s mesothelioma.”
The case is one of thousands across the country claiming that J&J’s talc products caused disease, including mesothelioma and ovarian cancer. The company pulled its talc-based products from the U.S. and Canadian markets in 2020. It completed the worldwide removal of talcum powder from its products in 2023.
Trial is expected to last through most of October.
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com
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