J&J Talcum Powder Case Will Be Heard in Court

Santa Clara, CAA California woman who has filed a complaint against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) alleging J&J asbestos-containing Talcum Powder caused her to develop ovarian cancer, has been remanded by a federal judge.

The order, by U.S. District Judge Jean Hamilton in the Eastern District of Missouri, rejected claims by J&J that Tiffany Hogan's case, which is part of a multi-district litigation that includes similar claims by 45 other women or their family members, was a "sham" designed to avoid federal jurisdiction.

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs argued that J&J’s attempt to have the case removed was a stall tactic to avoid going to trial this week against another plaintiff in the case, Deborah Giannecchini. Earlier this year, two other plaintiffs in the case were awarded $72 million and $55 million verdicts against J&J.

The attempt by J&J to have the case removed comes just as the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is set to hear arguments over whether to coordinate more than 40 J&J talcum powder lawsuits filed in federal courts.