Talcum Powder Cases Headed For Counsel Status Hearing Tomorrow
Attorneys representing 50 plaintiffs in lawsuits alleging a link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer will meet before a judge to determine which lawsuits will need to proceed beyond July 14 and which can be resolved beforehand.
Monday, July 13, 2015 - 50 plaintiffs and the defendants they named in talcum powder lawsuits based in Missouri are preparing for a counsel status hearing set to take place July 14. Attorneys representing both sides will meet before a judge to discuss the status of their cases filed against manufacturers and distributors of talcum powder products over their alleged link to ovarian cancer.
The counsel status hearing will be held for the judge presiding over the case to be able to determine which cases have been resolved, and which ones will proceed in the trial against defendants Johnson & Johnson, Walgreens and the Imerys talc mining company. The lawsuits began to be filed in December of 2014 when plaintiffs claimed that the link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer was strong enough to warrant litigation against the defendants for a failure to warn consumers of the possible dangers inherent with using the product.
Though the FDA first limited the amount of cancer-causing component asbestos in 1973, the claims allege that there remain trace amounts of similar carcinogens remain in the product. These small particles in talcum powder have the ability to migrate up a woman's vaginal tract and solidify in the ovaries. This process has been noted in talcum powder research to present an increased risk of more than 20 percent to women who use talcum powder regularly. The powder has remained largely unregulated aside from the asbestos limit however and still allegedly poses a risk to consumers that the defendants were aware of and failed to warn consumers of according to the lawsuits.
In a recent talcum powder verdict, a California woman was awarded $12 million in response to her claims that talcum powder was directly connected to her contraction of cancer. The verdict was found against defendant Colgate-Palmolive, which isn't a part of the Missouri lawsuits, but demonstrates the severity to which these claims are being dealt with. Though this verdict was found to settle the case of a woman who contracted the lung cancer mesothelioma, the cancer-causing nature of talcum powder and the jury's reaction to the plaintiff's claims can still be referenced in relation to how the Missouri talcum powder litigation may proceed.
In other recent talcum powder news, defendant Johnson & Johnson filed to consolidate more than 100 talcum powder lawsuits filed against the pharmaceutical company in New Jersey. These lawsuits are a part of hundreds around the country steadily growing as more information about the harmful symptoms of prolonged talcum powder use comes to light. The move by the defendant to consolidate the lawsuits demonstrates that they feel the claims brought against them are not of a sporadic nature, but serious claims that carry similar questions of fact and research that forced the hand of one of the country's largest pharmaceutical companies.
The Missouri trial, which recently appointed a special master to assist in keeping proceeding concerning the talcum powder proceedings efficient, is aiming to begin jury trials related to the claims brought by plaintiffs in December of 2015. The counsel status hearing will determine what cases will go on to earn hearings for that date and which will be resolved before the jury trials begin.
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