ST. LOUIS, Nov. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A Missouri
judge has upheld the $110 million
jury award to a Virginia woman who
claimed that decades of daily use of Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE:
JNJ) talcum powder products caused her ovarian cancer.
After a review of post-trial evidence, Judge Rex M. Burlison of the 22nd Judicial Circuit
Court has ruled that proper jurisdiction can be established in the
state based on the significant role played by Union, Missouri-based PharmaTech in the
processing, labeling, packaging and distribution of Johnson's Baby Powder and Shower to Shower
products. The May, 2017 verdict was called into question following
the U.S. Supreme Court's Bristol Myers
Squibb ruling, which established new, stringent
jurisdictional standards for lawsuits filed by out-of-state
plaintiffs.
"Upon review of the record and the standard as enunciated in
Bristol Myers, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have sufficiently
established that specific personal jurisdiction exists…" wrote
Judge Burlison in a 12-page opinion issued on November 29.
During the trial, the plaintiff, Lois
Slemp, alleged that more than four decades of using
talc-containing feminine hygiene products, including Johnson's Baby Powder and Shower to Shower,
led to the development of her cancer. Initially diagnosed in 2012,
Ms. Slemp endured surgery and seven months of chemotherapy to
combat the disease. Due to her physical condition she was only able
to testify through an audio recording of her deposition.
After almost four weeks of testimony the jury awarded
$5.4 million in compensatory damages
and $105 million in punitive damages
against the Johnson & Johnson and co-defendant Imerys Talc
America, which mines and supplies the talc used in J&J's
products.
"This ruling confirms that even the limited evidence we've
uncovered regarding PharmaTech is sufficient to meet the high
standard set by the Supreme Court, and should allow us to affirm
the earlier verdicts and move forward with additional trials in
Missouri," said Ted Meadows, co-lead counsel for Ms. Slemp and a
principal at the Beasley Allen law firm.
In 2016, three St. Louis trials
brought by other women suffering from ovarian cancer led to jury
verdicts of $70 million, $72 million and $55
million against J&J and Imerys.
"If you look at the record in each trial to date, the defendants
have been very careful to hide the presence and role of
PharmaTech," said Allen Smith of the
Smith Law Firm of Ridgeland,
Mississippi, and co-lead counsel for Ms. Slemp. "Now that
jurisdiction has been confirmed by the court, future trials will be
able to more clearly show the steps J&J has taken to deceive
the public and medical community of the dangers of talcum powder
use for feminine hygiene."
During the original trial, attorneys for Ms. Slemp called a
number of prominent scientists and researchers who testified that
more than 20 well-executed studies show a link between ovarian
cancer and genital applications of talcum powder. The jury was also
shown a trail of internal documents as evidence that J&J has
known about those dangers for decades but has attempted to suppress
and dismiss the findings.
Media Contact:
Barry Pound
(214) 293-0860
barry@androvett.com
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SOURCE Beasley Allen Law Firm