Status Conference Set For New Jersey Multicounty Litigation
More talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuit news will be coming soon as lawyers representing both plaintiffs and defendants in the multicounty litigation will meet with the court next month for the first status conference since the cases were transferred on November 25.
Monday, December 14, 2015 - A date for a status conference concerning the recently consolidated talcum powder lawsuits in New Jersey has been set for January 13 between all lawyers involved in the lawsuits and the Atlantic County court where the cases were centralized. The status conference will serve as the first opportunity for many of the parties engaged in the at least 65 lawsuits to review the discovery unearthed to this point before the pretrial orders in multicounty litigation begin, though more than 100 suits may eventually be a part of the litigation. There may also be more lawsuits involved with the multicounty litigation by that time as talcum powder cancer lawsuit news spreads around the country.
The talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits were recently consolidated into multicounty litigation in New Jersey a move that was expected by both plaintiffs and defendants. Both sides had encouraged the transfer of the state lawsuits into multicounty litigation, differing only in the potential venue to which the lawsuits would be transferred. The plaintiffs lobbied for the cases to be sent to the smaller Middlesex County Court, while the defendants had lobbied for the lawsuits to be sent to the Atlantic City Superior Court, where they were eventually sent. Johnson & Johnson is headquartered in New Jersey.
The claims at the heart of the lawsuits allege that via the regular use of talcum powder products manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, consumers were put at an increased risk of contracting ovarian cancer, which has been connected to talcum powder in a series of studies dating back to the 1970s. Attorneys representing plaintiffs in the talcum powder cancer lawsuits have produced talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuit news stories and research stemming from more than 20 studies demonstrated a link between talcum powder and an increased risk in ovarian cancer that has been pegged as high as 30 percent.
Plaintiffs have claimed that Johnson & Johnson have been aware of the existence and significance of these studies and chose not to warn consumers of the potential risk regular use of talcum powder could have for women using the product. Attorneys representing the plaintiffs have also alleged that Johnson & Johnson withheld information from consumers in an effort to protect the marketability of their talcum powder products, even if this resulted in their customers being put at a higher risk.
Johnson & Johnson has contended that the risks involved with using their products are small enough to be deemed nonsignificant and believes the plaintiffs' claims are without merit. The defense has produced studies that claim the talcum powder products are not closely linked to an increase in the risk of ovarian cancer, although the talcum powder research supporting this view are fewer in quantity compared to those supporting the link produced by the plaintiffs.
More than 700 talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits have already been filed nationwide, with that number expected to grow as more talcum powder lawsuit news is released. The lawsuits name Johnson & Johnson's Baby Powder and Shower-To-Shower as the products connected to an increased risk in ovarian cancer for women. The consolidation of the New Jersey cases will help in eliminating duplicate discovery and reduce the waste of resources that might have been used if the lawsuits would have been allowed to proceed on their own.
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