Another mesothelioma claim has been filed against Johnson & Johnson, accusing the consumer giant of negligence in allowing asbestos to contaminate its popular talcum-based products. Andrew Curtin has filed a claim in Maine’s Cumberland County Superior Court, asserting that the company is at fault for his late wife Cynthia Cartwright’s 2017 death.
Woman Dies of Mesothelioma Four Days After Diagnosis
Cynthia Cartwright died of malignant mesothelioma in April 2017, just four days after she was diagnosed with the rare, asbestos-related disease. In a claim filed against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Pecos River Talc last September. The claim asserts that “as a direct and proximate result of Ms. Cartwright’s purchase, use and application of Defendant’s unreasonably dangerous and defective talcum powder and joint compound J&J Products,” she was exposed to asbestos that led to her disease.
In response to the widower’s lawsuit in the state court in Portland, Johnson & Johnson has both denied culpability for Ms. Cartwright’s mesothelioma and filed a motion requesting that the case be moved to federal court. They based their request on what they call the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “primary and exclusive jurisdiction over the safety of cosmetic talc-containing products and primary and exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether any warning must accompany cosmetic talc-containing products.”
Mesothelioma Claims Against J&J Managed Differently from Ovarian Cancer Claims
Johnson & Johnson is currently facing thousands of claims filed by victims of ovarian cancer and malignant mesothelioma. While the ovarian cancer claims are being addressed as a class action lawsuit that the company has offered to settle for $8.2 billion, the mesothelioma claims continue to be heard on a case-by-case basis, with some claims being settled and others going to jury trial.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma or ovarian cancer and you believe that it is linked to your use of talc-based products, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net can help. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608 to learn more.
