As the seasons change and one year turns to the next, Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder litigation rolls on.
In the latest twist, J&J is taking issue with testimony from an expert witness used by some plaintiffs. In a lawsuit, J&J’s bankrupt subsidiary, LTL Management, accused the witness of falsifying information used in hundreds of talc cases.
In the filing, dated Dec. 16, J&J’s subsidiary accuses Dr. Jacqueline Moline of “knowing and repeated disparagement” of J&J’s baby powder and shower gel.
The company’s attorneys cited a 2019 article published by Dr. Moline in which she claimed that 33 individuals who used talc powder and later developed the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma had no other potential exposure to asbestos.
But the company argues a September ruling by a North Carolina federal judge found that one of the individuals listed in Moline’s report made a worker’s compensation claim for asbestos exposure other than from J&J’s talc.
Dr. Moline was an expert in more than 200 mesothelioma cases and provided trial testimony in 16 of the cases. Her report, which was published in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, claimed to be the first research study to link asbestos in cosmetic talc to mesothelioma.
While it’s not immediately clear where this latest lawsuit will lead, it marks another turn after years of litigation for the drugmaker.
While J&J has a long history selling talc-based powders, the iconic product has been at the center of tens of thousands of lawsuits in recent years alleging a link to cancer.
In August, the company said it would halt sales of the talc-based powder worldwide—starting in 2023—and insisted the move was a “commercial decision.”
Last year, in a bid to reduce its losses from litigation and settlements, J&J established a holding company, LTL Management, in which to funnel the lawsuits and then declare it bankrupt.
In February of this year, a New Jersey judge affirmed J&J’s ability to use Chapter 11 to hasten a sweeping settlement that would resolve the outstanding cases. But three months later, a federal appeals court said it would revisit the case.
Johnson & Johnson paid $7.4 billion in litigation expenses between 2020 and 2021, an annual filing shows. The company cited talc litigation as a primary driver of legal costs during both years.