Asbestos & Mesothelioma Law Blog

How Does Someone Get Cancer From Talcum Powder?

August 2, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

Juries continue to rule against Johnson and Johnson, a major producer of talcum powder, in lawsuits brought by women with cancer who contend that the talc asbestos in the powder has caused it. J&J claims that its famous baby powder has never contained asbestos. However, juries have found the talcum powder industry’s defense less compelling than the plaintiffs’. A Missouri court has ordered J&J to compensate more than twenty women who contracted ovarian cancer after using talcum powder, for a total of over $4.6 billion in damages.

How Can Talcum Power Cause Cancer?

The claimants alleged that they contracted ovarian cancer from use of J&J products, including the company’s popular body powder, because the talcum products contained asbestos. J&J has announced its plans to appeal the case. The company is now faced with thousands of legal claims from cancer victims who believe they contracted ovarian cancer from talcum powder made by J&J.

Another jury rules against J&J over talc asbestos

July 26, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

The American Cancer Society declares on its website that talcum powder-based products have been asbestos-free since the 1970s. Johnson & Johnson, one of the major manufacturers of such products, is equally vocal about claiming that its well-known talc-based baby powder does not, and never has, contained asbestos. Juries hearing claims to the contrary continue to cast doubt the industry position.

The latest reflection of this came in mid-July with a panel in Missouri ordering Johnson & Johnson to pay nearly $4.7 billion in compensatory and punitive damages to a group of 22 women. The women alleged that baby powder and other J&J talc-based products did contain asbestos and caused them to contract ovarian cancer. Johnson & Johnson vows to appeal the case. Meanwhile, the company is named in thousands of additional actions claiming talc-related cancer and they continue to work their way through the courts.

Many can and do propose the argument that there is no solid scientific evidence that there is any link between talc and ovarian cancer. But the fact remains that, in its natural state, asbestos appears in talc. And asbestos is known to cause cancer.

EPA Issues New Updates to Asbestos Regulations

July 14, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued new guidance rules for asbestos as part of the latest updates to the reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which could potentially have a large impact on future asbestos production in the United States. The new rules, referred to as significant new use rule (SNUR), would allow the agency to prevent new uses of asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral directly linked to deadly cancers such as mesothelioma.

If adopted, the proposed rule would require the EPA’s approval before any products containing asbestos could be manufactured, imported, or processed in the U.S. and would further grant the agency the authority to prohibit or limit the use of asbestos. While the proposed SNUR is encouraging for many activists, it still remains the first instance the EPA has proposed such an action and those same groups remain skeptical that the agency will follow through with the proposal.

“These actions provide the American people with transparency and an opportunity to comment on how EPA plans to evaluate the ten chemicals undergoing risk evaluation, select studies, and use the best available science to ensure chemicals in the marketplace are safe,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “At the same time, we are moving forward to take important, unprecedented action on asbestos.”

AMERICA’S top 100 HIGH STAKES LITIGATORS®

July 12, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

Announcing the selection of Michael Throneberry among America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® for 2018. Selection to America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® is by invitation only and is reserved to identify the nation’s most exceptional trial attorneys in high value, high stakes legal matters.

To be considered for selection, an attorney must have litigated (for either plaintiff or defendant) a matter (1) with at least $2,000,000 in alleged damages at stake or (2) with the fate of a business worth at least $2,000,000 at stake. These minimum qualifications are required for initial consideration. Thereafter, candidates are carefully screened through comprehensive Qualitative Comparative Analysis based on a broad array of criteria, including the candidate’s professional experience, litigation experience, significant case results, representative high stakes matters, peer reputation, and community impact in order to rank the candidates throughout the state.

Only the top 100 qualifying attorneys in each state will receive this honor and be selected for membership among America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators^®. With these extremely high standards for selection to America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators®, less than one-half percent (0.5%) of active attorneys in the United States will receive this honor — truly the most exclusive and elite level of attorneys in the community.

New Jersey State Judge Upholds $117 Million Plaintiff’s Verdict in Asbestos Talcum Powder Lawsuit

July 9, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

A New Jersey judge recently upheld a substantial $117 million verdict in favor of two-plaintiffs in an asbestos talcum powder lawsuit against cosmetics and pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson and its talc supplier Imerys Talc. The award, originally handed down in April 2018, included $30 million in compensatory damages, $7 million for loss of consortium, and $80 million for a husband and wife.

The Middlesex County Superior Court judge in New Brunswick, New Jersey refused to grant Johnson & Johnson’s petition to set aside the verdict, potentially setting up another appeal to a higher state court. The jury’s award found Johnson & Johnson 70% liable for the plaintiffs’ damages and determined Imerys to be responsible for the remaining 30%. That verdict was the second such in two months for the two defendants, with a subsequent verdict in May 2018 awarding a 68-year-old plaintiff over $25 million in damages.

The asbestos talcum powder lawsuit alleged that the husband in the case developed mesothelioma, a rare and deadly form of cancer, from years of using talc-based products sold by Johnson & Johnson with materials sourced by Imerys Talc. The plaintiff claimed that he used the product from 1973 until roughly 2003 without knowing it contained deadly asbestos fibers, information he claimed Johnson & Johnson knew but kept from the public.

Identifying the symptoms of mesothelioma

July 2, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

Mesothelioma is a very rare, very aggressive form of cancer. While it affects only a few thousand people each year, its effects are often devastating. Chances of survivability are very low, the signs and symptoms are difficult to spot, and usually take decades to manifest.

Possibly the most distressing aspect of mesothelioma is that it is often incurable. Treatments are available, but due to the disease’s rarity, modern medicine has had few chances to study it on an in-depth level. If these symptoms and circumstances are familiar to you, schedule an appointment with your doctor.

Causes and signs of mesothelioma

Miami-Dade County Courthouse Secretary Files Asbestos Cancer Lawsuit

June 30, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

A former secretary at the Miami-Dade courthouse recently filed an asbestos cancer lawsuit against the county claiming the hazards she was subjected to over the course of her employment are responsible for her medical conditions. As a result of her daily exposure to asbestos and mold, the plaintiff’s asbestos cancer lawsuit claims she was forced to undergo lung-extraction surgery and continues to undergo chemotherapy.

According to her asbestos exposure lawsuit, the plaintiff alleges that she started working at the now 90-year-old courthouse in 1994 before moving to another county building in Doral in 2005, where she also faced unsafe working conditions. The plaintiff contends that despite never being a smoker or in poor health, she developed her stage-two lung cancer as a result of exposure to asbestos and mold.

In 2016, the Miami-Dade County commissioner conducted a study on the courthouse and found that the building had not been inspected since 1988 and that recent tests detected the presence of asbestos in the structure. As a result of the report, the county undertook efforts to abate the courthouse of asbestos, but it remains unclear whether the project has been completed.

What to know about take-home asbestos exposure

June 27, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

It is commonly known that asbestos is a dangerous substance that has been the cause of diseases and cancers such as mesothelioma. Due to its fire-retardant properties, the mineral was considered very useful to many industries, such as fireproofing or insulating for construction.

Even after regulations were put in place to severely restrict and in some instances, discontinue its use in the 1970s, people continued to get sick. It can take years for the long-term effects of asbestos exposure to be realized.

If you have a family member who worked in an environment where asbestos was present before regulations were in effect, you may have also been exposed. How did it happen?

Talc Supplier Settles Claims with 22 Plaintiffs on Eve of Trial in Missouri

June 22, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

A talc supplier for pharmaceutical and cosmetics giant Johnson & Johnson recently agreed to a settlement with 22 plaintiffs in an upcoming talcum powder cancer trial over allegations that the defendants’ talc-based products caused the victims’ cancer diagnosis. As part of the agreement, Imerys Talc SA will pay a total of at least $5 million, according to reports, to the plaintiffs to resolve the company’s liability in the case also involving Johnson & Johnson.

The settlement comes right before the start of a talcum powder cancer trial in U.S. District Court in Missouri pitting ovarian cancer victims who claim their decades of using talcum powder sold by Johnson & Johnson and sourced by Imerys caused their condition. With Imerys’ settlement, Johnson & Johnson remains the only defendant left in these particular, cases but the two parties face several thousand other lawsuits over claims that their talcum powder products caused cancer, including mesothelioma.

Asbestos Cancer Lawsuit Against Johnson & Johnson Goes to Trial in Missouri

June 19, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

An asbestos cancer lawsuit brought by 22 women recently began in a Missouri state court over claims that pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder products caused the plaintiffs’ ovarian cancer diagnoses. The claim alleges that the plaintiffs’ years of use of Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based products caused their cancer diagnoses and that the defendant knew for years about the risk of injury but did nothing to warn the public.

According to the asbestos cancer lawsuit, filed in Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, the 22 female plaintiffs and the representatives of their estates claim that their years of using Johnson & Johnson’s products like Baby Powder and Shower to Shower caused their ovarian cancer diagnoses. The lawsuit alleges that the talc used to make these products was contaminated with asbestos during the mining and is therefore the causal link between using Johnson & Johnson’s products and developing the disease.

Talc and asbestos are both naturally occurring minerals often found in deposits adjacent to one another, which can lead to talc contamination if care is not taken to separate the two substances during mining. Although federal law has required talc to be asbestos-free for many decades now, plaintiffs in talcum powder asbestos lawsuits allege that independent testing shows the talc sourced for Johnson & Johnson products still contains asbestos to this day.