Topic: Mass Torts
On June 29, 2020, the defendants Juul Labs, Inc. and Altria Group, Inc. filed motions to dismiss the class action complaint filed in the federal multi-district litigation against three non-management director defendants, arguing the plaintiffs failed to prove that the non-management directors participated in any fraudulent business practices, that the claims are pre-empted by federal […]
On June 23, in a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District reduced the damages awarded by the jury in a 2018 trial that linked Johnson & Johnson talc products to cancer, by more than half from $4.7 billion to $2.12 billion, even as it upheld the […]
On Wednesday, Bayer announced that it had reached an agreement to settle most of the 125,000 claims involving its Roundup herbicide which has been linked to cancer. The settlement is estimated to be at least $10.1 billion and will resolve most of the current Roundup litigation filed in both the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) and […]
On June 23, in a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District reduced the damages awarded by the jury in a 2018 trial that linked Johnson & Johnson talc products to cancer, by more than half from $4.7 billion to $2.12 billion, even as it upheld the […]
While many courtrooms across the country were closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are several mass torts that continued making significant progress despite the legal hiatus. Two of these were cited in our 2020 forecast: JUUL The JUUL MDL (Northern District of California) has continued to move forward since the end of 2019. […]
In a 5-2 split decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled on June 3, that manufacturers and distributors can be held liable for failing to warn of the risks of asbestos-containing replacement components even if they did not build or sell them. In the 43-page majority opinion, Justice Barr T. Albin wrote: “Our developing common […]
In the wake of lawsuits filed against Chanel and other manufacturers and sellers, linking cancer to their talc products, the company, along with cosmetic giants Revlon and L’Oreal are considering alternatives to talc in some of their products. Chanel has removed talc from a loose face powder and discontinued its talc body powder. Revlon has […]
On June 2, a California court heard oral argument in the appeal filed by Monsanto involving the August, 2018 multi-million dollar verdict in a case brought against them and its parent company, Bayer AG. The case was filed by Dewayne Johnson, a groundskeeper suffering from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, who successfully argued that his cancer was caused […]
Elmiron [Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium (PPS)] is a drug developed in 1996 by Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals to treat interstitial cystitis, bladder pain and osteoarthritis. The drug has been linked to serious eye injuries including pigmentary and retinal maculopathy and macular degeneration. Interstitial cystitis is a disease that causes severe bladder pain and urinary […]
On May 19, 2020, Johnson & Johnson announced it is discontinuing North American sales of its talc-based baby powder, a product it has defended for decades in the face of lawsuits filed by consumers who say it caused cancer. This move likely would not have happened without the public attention drawn to individuals who have […]
