Earlier this week, the New York Supreme Court appellate branch reversed a decision letting J&J partially off the hook for a talcum-litigation case.
A 2020 judgement from the initial suit, filed in 2019, determined that J&J was to pay $300 million in damages, with an additional $20 million to plaintiff Donna Olson who claimed that her use of talc was to blame for her mesothelioma diagnosis.
J&J appealed the decision, and the court has now decided that the plaintiff failed to establish “sufficient exposure to a substance to cause the claimed adverse health effect.” The court also stated that Olson’s medical expert did not provide enough scientific expression of the level of exposure to toxins that caused disease in the defendant.
It seems that J&J’s talc-litigation strategy is working. The reversal means J&J won’t be responsible for retribution payments, and recently, a federal judge confirmed the company’s ability to establish a holding company for talc litigation cases and declare the firm bankrupt, saving billions.