Published on Friday, February 16, 2018 by Staff
Prior to last year’s ruling by the U.S Supreme Court in Bristol Meyers Squibb v. California Superior Court of California, juries handed down several multi-million dollar verdicts against Johnson & Johnson, finding that its talc-containing Baby Powder® and Shower to Shower® Body Powders caused the ovarian cancer of the women who cases were tried in St. Louis, Missouri State Court. The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court resulted in the reversal of these jury verdicts and, in a case that was underway, prompted the Judge to declare a mistrial.
Guided by the new requirements set out by the Supreme Court, the Plaintiffs’ attorneys presented evidence to the Missouri trial court that paved the way for trials to resume in St. Louis. Specifically, the evidence demonstrated that Johnson & Johnson indirectly produced, labeled, packaged and shipped talc-containing Johnson’s Baby Powder® and Shower to Shower® in and from facilities located in Missouri. These talc-powder manufacturing activities convinced the Missouri trial court that Johnson & Johnson should stand trial in Missouri state court.
Johnson & Johnson and other defendants attempted to reverse the trial court’s ruling by appealing to the Missouri Supreme Court, asking that court to prohibit trials from proceeding in St. Louis. The Missouri Supreme Court denied the appeal. This now paves the way for trials to resume in St. Louis as early as June of this year. At this time, a multi-plaintiff trial is scheduled to begin on June 4th in St. Louis before Judge Rex Burleson. That trial involves 22 plaintiffs – women who claim their ovarian cancer was caused by their use of talc-containing Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder® and/or Shower to Shower®.