J & J Begins Another Trial Over Claims Its Talc Causes Cancer

Phil and Bernard Matthey’s wrongful death lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson has headed to trial. The suit claims the company is responsible for selling asbestos-contaminated baby powder that caused the death of the plaintiffs’ mother. Patricia Matthey died from ovarian cancer at the age of 72 In 2019. The Mattheys’ lawsuit notes their mother had used J&J’s talc-based product for most of her life.  Attorney for the plaintiffs, Lance Oliver, told the jury that Patricia Matthey applied baby powder to her body 41,000 times over the course of 50 years. He also told the jury that J&J continued selling the baby powder for decades despite knowing that the product can be hazardous to consumers’ health.  Oliver pointed to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2019 discovery of chrysotile asbestos in a batch of the company’s baby powder. J&J issued a recall at the time and eventually phased out its talc-based baby powder, switching to a cornstarch-based product. “If J&J had simply been honest from the very beginning with what they knew about their product, then we would not be here today, and Pat Matthey and her family would not have gone through what they went through,” Oliver added. Defense attorney Mort Dubin asked the jury to set aside their sympathy for the Matthey family and suggested claims that asbestos-contaminated talc causes ovarian cancer are based on flawed scientific studies. J&J claims its products ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Asbestos (general) Asbestos Exposure Companies johnson Legal Mesothelioma talc Talcum Powder Source Type: news