Johnson & Johnson fails to block experts from testifying at upcoming trial

By Becky Bargh | Published: 29-Mar-2019

The Georgia court ruled the three experts would be allowed to testify over links between the firm’s Baby Powder products and ovarian cancer

Beauty giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has failed to block medical experts from testifying in its upcoming court trial which links its Baby Powder products with ovarian cancer.

Last year the company lost a court ruling in St Louis, which saw the personal care firm payout US$4.7bn in damages to 22 women who alleged the cosmetic company’s talc products caused them to develop ovarian cancer.

The company’s legal team had challenged the credentials, expertise and scientific methodology of three experts hired by the family of a woman who died from ovarian cancer in 2016.

Diane Brower is said to have used Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder twice a day from when she was a teenager, and was diagnosed with Stage III ovarian cancer in 2013.

Trial Attorney Ted Meadows said: “These medical experts are world-class in their specialities and their opinions are based on expertise shared through rigorous and objective scientific training.”

He added: “For too long J&J has ignored concerns from the medical community about Baby Powder and cancer.

“We’re pleased that jurors will have an opportunity to hear from these experts.”

The experts, Laura Plunkett, a board-certified pharmacologist and toxicologist; John Godleski, a pathology professor in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health; and James Barter, director of Gynecologic Oncology Research at Holy Cross Hospital in Maryland, will appear at the trial in July this year.



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