Georgia Talcum Trial Ends In Mistrial

Georgia Talcum Trial Ends In Mistrial

Introduction

On Tuesday, a Fulton County State Court jury failed to reach a verdict in a case involving Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) talcum powder, which allegedly caused a woman to die of ovarian cancer in 2016. The trial, considered to be the first talcum powder trial in Georgia, ended in a mistrial after the jury was deadlocked 10 to 2  in favor of the plaintiff.

The lawsuit involves a victim who died in 2016 after a three-year battle with ovarian cancer. Her family stated that she used J&J’s talcum powder products in her genital area for around 15 years, which they claimed was the reason for her cancer. The trial began on September 12, where the plaintiffs' attorney asked the jury to award more than $700,000 in lost wages and $1.3 million in medical bills, plus noneconomic damages for the 20 years that the victim would have lived.

Talc defendants are currently facing nearly 14,000 talcum powder and shower-to-shower lawsuits, consolidated under multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2738; In Re: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Products Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation), in the District of New Jersey. The MDL is presided by Hon. Freda L. Wolfson, U.S.D.J., and Hon. Lois H. Goodman, U.S.M.J.