12-14-2018, 07:26 PM
A South Carolina jury failed to reach a verdict in the second trial of a lawsuit claiming Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder caused a rare cancer linked to asbestos exposure.
Judge Jean Toal ordered a mistrial Thursday evening after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked 11-1 in the lawsuit brought by the husband of lawyer Bertile Boyd-Bostic, who died at age 30 of mesothelioma. The first trial on the claim in May also ended with a hung jury.
Boyd-Bostic’s husband argued J&J knew in the 1970s its talc products contained the carcinogen and failed to warn the public to protect its iconic brand. He sought more than $62 million in damages over his wife’s death. J&J denies its baby powder has ever been tainted with asbestos.
“We look forward to a new trial to present our defense, which rests on decades of independent, non-litigation driven scientific evaluations, none of which have found that Johnson’s Baby Powder contains asbestos,” Kim Montagnino, a J&J spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement.
The mistrial comes on the heels of a California jury’s decision Wednesday to reject a woman’s claims that asbestos-laced baby powder caused her mesothelioma. The panel found
plaintiff Carla Allen was exposed to baby powder fouled by asbestos, but that wasn’t a “substantial factor” in causing her cancer.
Judge Jean Toal ordered a mistrial Thursday evening after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked 11-1 in the lawsuit brought by the husband of lawyer Bertile Boyd-Bostic, who died at age 30 of mesothelioma. The first trial on the claim in May also ended with a hung jury.
Boyd-Bostic’s husband argued J&J knew in the 1970s its talc products contained the carcinogen and failed to warn the public to protect its iconic brand. He sought more than $62 million in damages over his wife’s death. J&J denies its baby powder has ever been tainted with asbestos.
“We look forward to a new trial to present our defense, which rests on decades of independent, non-litigation driven scientific evaluations, none of which have found that Johnson’s Baby Powder contains asbestos,” Kim Montagnino, a J&J spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement.
The mistrial comes on the heels of a California jury’s decision Wednesday to reject a woman’s claims that asbestos-laced baby powder caused her mesothelioma. The panel found
plaintiff Carla Allen was exposed to baby powder fouled by asbestos, but that wasn’t a “substantial factor” in causing her cancer.