General Causation, Daubert Hearing Set For Talcum MDL

Introduction

A case management order was submitted recently in which Judge Wolfson confirmed general causation and Daubert hearings schedule on the link between Talc powder use and ovarian cancer. The order indicates that the court will make a decision about the admissibility of the plaintiffs’ evidence by next summer.

The sample testing for general causation expert reports is required to be completed by October 1, with the plaintiffs serving the expert reports themselves on or before November 16. The defendant gets time until December 17 to conclude any depositions of the plaintiff's general causation experts and February 15, 2019, to submit causation expert reports, and plaintiffs are supposed to complete depositions on those experts. The Daubert hearing is scheduled for June 11, 2019, for which motions must be filed by April 18, 2019.

More than 8,200 product liability lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson claim asbestos in talcum powder causes ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, yet the company false marketed the talc products extensively.

Recently, a Missouri jury ordered J&J to pay $4.7 billion to a group of 22 women who developed ovarian cancer. Lawsuits pending against the talc manufacturer, are centralized for pretrial proceedings in the District of New Jersey, presided over by Hon. Freda L. Wolfson, U.S.D.J./ Hon. Lois H. Goodman, U.S.M.J. as a part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2738; In Re: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Products Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation).

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