MDL 2738 comprises nearly 50,000 individual talcum powder lawsuits from individuals who allegedly developed ovarian cancer or mesothelioma after regular, prolonged use of Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower body powder.
Talc cancer attorneys respond to J&J’s 2nd bankruptcy filing, questioning J&J’s motives, and urging plaintiffs’ lawyers to prioritize clients’ needs.
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, April 6, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — Johnson & Johnson (J& J) announced that its subsidiary LTL Management LLC (LTL) has re-filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, prompting statements of concern from attorneys of plaintiffs who claim the company’s talc-based products caused their ovarian cancer or mesothelioma.
J&J has packaged its latest shady maneuverings as a reorganization plan that would enable the company to “equitably and efficiently resolve” tens of thousands of talc claims.
Mike Papantonio, senior partner at Levin Papantonio Rafferty (LPR) law firm, strongly cautioned other plaintiffs’ attorneys to weigh their clients’ needs when considering Johnson & Johnson’s reorganization plan and corresponding compensation on the corporation’s terms, rather than fighting for their clients at trial. LPR is heavily involved in the national talc multidistrict litigation (In Re: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Products Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MD 2738 (D.N.J.) and represents hundreds of ovarian cancer victims who for decades used Johnson & Johnson ’s Baby Powder with talc.
LPR Attorney Chris Tisi, who is a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the talc MDL and a member representative of the Official Committee of Talc Claimants, said that the threat of even more delays for compensation for women who developed ovarian cancer allegedly from use of J&J’s talc products could turn heads in this vulnerable population, leading them to consider accepting J&J’s low-ball settlement offers.
Tisi urged claimants and their attorneys to consider that the average cost to a family of an ovarian cancer victim exceeds $500,000. This amount encompasses damages for medical expenses and lost wages and does not even account for pain and suffering and non-economic loss.
“What J&J is presenting as a means to ‘equitably and efficiently resolve’ talc claims is not in claimants’ best interest,” Tisi said. “It amounts to selling these poor women out by trying to give them compensation that doesn’t come even close to compensating them for what they and their families have lost and endured. We vehemently oppose it.”
LPR Attorney Cameron Stephenson, who is also involved in the talc MDL said in an interview with Pensacola ABC 3 WEAR-TV News that the math does not add up:
“Johnson & Johnson is pushing this media spin saying that we have reached the settlement that’s gonna pay these women $8.9 billion. What they’re not telling you is that that’s less than $100,000 a case, and it’s paid out over 25 years, and any law firm that is signing on to this plan—I’m not going to get into why they’re doing it because quite frankly, I can’t figure it out myself–but these are not people in leadership, and it’s going to take a heck of a lot more than $9 billion to fairly compensate these women.”
Papantonio added: “When you represent a client, the client expects you to fight for them—not to cave in and give up on their case.”
MDL 2738 comprises nearly 50,000 individual talcum powder lawsuits from individuals who allegedly developed ovarian cancer or mesothelioma after regular, prolonged use of Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower body powder. The lawsuits claim that Johnson & Johnson deceptively marketed the talc-based products for feminine hygienic use without disclosing talc’s carcinogenic properties.
Tisi explained that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit had already rejected Johnson & Johnson’s first attempt to use the bankruptcy system to escape responsibility for placing defective products on the market.
“It was never a good faith bankruptcy. It should never have been filed, and it should have been dismissed,” Tisi said. “Then and now, it’s nothing more than a litigation tactic, as a result of which thousands of women have gone and could continue to go without compensation,” Tisi said. “They are attempting to hold these victims hostage by threatening a new bankruptcy.”
Sara Stephens
Levin Papantonio Rafferty
+1 281-744-6560
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