Jurors urged to impose heavy punitive damages in Johnson & Johnson talc trial - Lawyers representing the California man who claims to have suffered rare cancer as a result of exposure to asbestos contained in Johnson and Johnson's (JNJ.N) baby powder made of talc on Monday urged a juror to make the company pay hefty punitive damages the company's conduct as reckless as well as "despicable."
“A prudent company would not market an item that allows carcinogens to be injected into infants,” Joseph Satterley, an attorney for Emory Hernandez Valadez, said in his closing argument after a six-week trial at Alameda County Superior Court in California.
J&J has always denied that the discontinued powder has asbestos or can cause cancer.
Satterley demanded that jurors give Hernandez punitive damages around nine times more than compensatory damages. These include $3.8 million for medical expenses and compensation for suffering and pain. Satterley claimed that the damages for pain and suffering should be far greater than the medical expenses.
The Supreme Court has decided that punitive damages should typically not exceed nine times compensatory damages and that a more excellent ratio may be reduced upon appeal as excessive.
J&J’s lawyers told jurors on Monday that there was no evidence linking Hernandez’s cancer with talc at trial. They also said that the company has always tried to test Talc’s properties and ensure its safety.
“What is most remarkable about the party with the burden of proof that they did not examine any bottles (he) says he used,” asbestos attorney Allison Brown said.
When the plaintiff’s doctor examined for evidence of asbestos in his body, they declared, “They found none – not a single asbestos fiber.”
The jury is expected to start deliberations on Tuesday.
Hernandez, who is 24, claimed in his suit that he was diagnosed with mesothelioma within the heart’s tissue due to exposure to J&J’s products for talc from the time as a child.
Thousands of plaintiffs have commenced lawsuits and alleged that J&J’s baby powder and other talc-based products may contain asbestos, which caused ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. J&J has claimed that its Talc powders are not harmful and don’t contain asbestos that has been linked to mesothelioma.
In April, J&J company subsidiary LTL Management filed for bankruptcy in Trenton, New Jersey; it proposed that it pay $8.9 billion to resolve the more than 38,000 lawsuits and keep new ones from arising. It was the second attempt at settling the claims involving talc in bankruptcy following the U.S. appeals court ruling against an earlier offer.
The majority of litigation has been stopped in bankruptcy proceedings. However, U.S. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan, who is in charge of the LTL’s Chapter 11, let Hernandez’s trial go because he’s likely to survive only briefly.
Asbestos plaintiffs want to have LTL’s recent bankruptcy filing thrown out. They’ve argued that the filing was made in bad good faith to protect LTL from lawsuits.
J&J and LTL have claimed that bankruptcy provides settlement payments to plaintiffs fairer efficiently, effectively and relatively than trial courts. The latter have compared to a “lottery” where some litigants are awarded large amounts of money, while others get nothing.
J&J declared it was filing bankruptcy court papers that expenses of its talc-related court verdicts settlements, legal fees and settlements are estimated at $4.5 billion.
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During a free case evaluation, you will speak with our expert about your case. The attorney will ask you questions about your health history, your use of talcum powder products, and your diagnosis of ovarian cancer or mesothelioma. The expert will also review the medical literature on the link between talcum powder and cancer.
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