The New York City court dedicated to hearing all asbestos litigation cases has ruled against parts of Johnson & Johnson’s motion for summary judgment in a mesothelioma lawsuit accusing the company’s baby powder product of causing a woman’s terminal illness. As a result, 65-year-old Donna A. Olson’s case against the consumer giant will be able to move forward, and asbestos victims around the country will see which side of the issue this esteemed court will land on.
Mesothelioma lawsuits have been filed against hundreds of companies that have exposed people to asbestos, but few of those companies have names as recognizable as Johnson & Johnson. The company’s baby powder product has long been one of the most trusted and iconic brands in the world, but in recent years thousands of people have connected their cancers to asbestos that they believe contaminated the talc-based product. Asbestos and talc are both minerals, and they are frequently found in close proximity to one another. Asbestos victims’ belief that Johnson & Johnson’s talc contained asbestos is supported by internal documents written decades ago by scientists working for the company: memos have been discovered that warned company executives of legal liability in case the public ever discovered that the product contained asbestos.
Though Johnson & Johnson attorneys have worked to minimize the impact of this evidence, juries around the country have chosen to believe many of the mesothelioma victims that have come forward to file mesothelioma lawsuits against the company, as well as women who believe that their ovarian cancer was caused by their use of the product in the genital area. Though some juries have denied victims’ claims and several have been unable to reach a conclusion, other victims have been awarded significant multi-million dollar awards from juries, and there are over 11,000 Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder lawsuits pending around the country.
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related product, it doesn’t matter whether your exposure came from a product in your workplace, in your home, or anywhere else – you just need help. Contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net at 1-800-692-8608 to get the resources you need.
