Miami Trial of J&J Talc Powder Cancer Claims Ends in Hung Jury

The latest trial over claims that Johnson & Johnson’s talc products cause cancer ended in a mistrial on Tuesday, as a Florida state court jury said it could not agree on a verdict.

The lawsuit was brought by Bob Sugarman, who said that J&J’s talc-based baby powder led his wife to develop ovarian cancer and die from the disease.

J&J said in a statement after the mistrial that its baby powder “is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.”

A lawyer for Sugarman did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment. In a statement to Law.com’s Daily Business Review, J&J’s vice president of litigation, Erik Haas, said that the mistrial shows that another jury has declined to adopt the “baseless claims” of the mass-tort plaintiffs’ bar.

J&J faces more than 50,000 lawsuits over talc, most by women with ovarian cancer, with a minority of the cases involving people with mesothelioma. The cases were on hold for about two years as J&J unsuccessfully tried to resolve them through bankruptcy.

The hung jury means that the Miami case will have to be tried again, perhaps starting next month.

J&J’s response to the plaintiff’s answer on punitive damages in the case can be seen here.