Retrial in Johnson & Johnson Talc Case Starts Monday

SOUTH CAROLINA- Blog.cvn.com reports that Johnson & Johnson is facing the retrial of a lawsuit in which the plaintiff allegedly developed mesothelioma after using the company’s talc-based products. The plaintiff, 30-year-old attorney, Bertila Boyd-Bostic, filed the lawsuit after she developed mesothelioma that impacted the lining of her heart.*

Bostic died from the disease while her lawsuit was still pending, but her widowed husband has carried on with the claim. Last May, the case ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury.

Johnson & Johnson is arguing that their products, including baby powder and Shower to Shower, are completely safe and that they never contained asbestos fibers. The company is arguing that the plaintiff is using faulty science to further the claims against the company.

The first lawsuit included Rite Aid and Imerys Talc America as defendants. However, as the retrial begins, only Johnson & Johnson will be facing the allegations. Rite Aid was cleared of wrongdoing, and Imerys settled its portion of the claim.

The new trial will be webcast on CVN. The trial starts Monday afternoon and will likely take about two weeks to complete.

Last month, Johnson & Johnson won a unanimous verdict in New Jersey, its home state.

Johnson & Johnson is facing a slew of legal claims over a possible connection between its talc-based products and ovarian cancer. The company was hit with a $4.69 billion verdict in July in a claim involving 22 female plaintiffs. In August, the company was ordered to pay $417 million to a single plaintiff, but the decision was overturned and is still being appealed. There are around 9,473 pending claims against the company for talc’s possible connection to ovarian cancer.