Mealey's Asbestos : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Asbestos

November 16, 2023
Los Angeles Targets J&J’s Advertising Of Asbestos-Tainted Talc Products

LOS ANGELES — Johnson & Johnson and related entities marketed talc-based baby powder and Shower to Shower products to mothers and minorities despite knowing about the presence of asbestos, heavy metals and other contaminants that could not be removed, their link to ovarian cancer and the existence of potential alternatives without those risks, Los Angeles says in state court complaint alleging false advertising and unfair competition in violation of the California unfair competition law (UCL) and public nuisance.
November 16, 2023
Judge Vacates Sanctions Against Attorneys After $9.7M Asbestos Verdict

MILWAUKEE — A Wisconsin judge vacated sanctions against attorneys for discovery violations, saying there was nothing specific tying the attorneys to the company’s untimely disclosure of more than 1,500 documents related to a man’s workplace in an asbestos case that netted a $9.7 million verdict.
November 15, 2023
Judge Won’t Certify Appeal Of Maritime Asbestos Damages Ruling

BOSTON — A ruling limiting the types of damages available in a maritime asbestos action at most impacts what occurs at trial and even if reversed would not assist in resolving the case, a federal judge in Massachusetts said Nov. 14 in declining to certify an immediate appeal.
November 15, 2023
Court: Pennsylvania Disease Law Doesn’t Preclude Excluded Man’s Tort Action

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s occupational disease law does not apply to a claim where the disability does not result in lost wages and thus the statute’s exclusivity provision does not bar a tort action under both recent precedent and a “novel and persuasive” interpretation of existing precedent, a Pennsylvania appellate court said Nov. 14 in affirming denial of a motion to dismiss.
November 14, 2023
Law Firm: New York Conduct Didn’t Warrant Sanction In Asbestos Fee Dispute

RICHMOND, Va. — The “obvious linkage” standard a federal judge in Maryland applied for conduct in a separate case filed in a separate court gives courts expansive power to sanction, a law firm embroiled in a dispute over fees involving asbestos bankruptcy trust cases tells the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a Nov. 13 brief.
November 14, 2023
Hawaii Judge Excludes BAP1 Genetic Causation Opinion From Asbestos Trial

HONOLULU — After allowing a blood test, a Hawaii judge excluded any resulting expert opinions on genetics’ role in a man’s mesothelioma as untimely and inadmissible in an ongoing asbestos trial, sources told Mealey Publications.
November 13, 2023
Supervisory Appeal In Occupational Asbestos Disease Case Nixed By Montana Court

HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court declined to exercise supervisory power over a case in which a judge found that the state’s occupational disease law, which was in effect at the time a man left employment, governs a mesothelioma lawsuit and permits a common-law action for exposure to asbestos, saying that simply preserving resources does not rise to the level required for such relief.
November 13, 2023
Laundry List Of Issues Goes Before South Carolina Top Court In Asbestos Petition

ANDERSON, S.C. — Briefing on a petition for a writ of certiorari filed with the South Carolina Supreme Court wrapped up, leaving the court to decide whether to review issues as far ranging as causation, intervening cause, the availability of punitive damages and whether a court properly imposed sanctions related to the handling of lung tissue in an asbestos case.
November 10, 2023
Insurer Is Granted Clerk’s Entry Of Default Against Brazilian Reinsurer

OMAHA, Neb. — An insurer has obtained a clerk’s entry of default in its Nebraska federal court suit seeking reimbursement from a Brazil-based reinsurer for a settlement the insurer reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposure.
November 09, 2023
Judge Allows Untimely Asbestos Expert Reports But Reopens Depositions

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Clerical oversight appears to be behind the failure to timely produce expert opinions in a long-running asbestos action, and what little prejudice could result from admitting two untimely reports can be cured by allowing the plaintiffs to re-depose their own experts, a federal judge in Montana said Nov. 8 in denying the plaintiffs’ motion to strike the two reports.
November 09, 2023
Asbestos Defendant: Court Should Stay Trial Only If It Deems It Necessary

BOSTON — A company facing a maritime asbestos trial says a woman’s alleged hardships necessitating a continuance are a “problem of her own making” but that despite her inability to justify the relief it would support granting the motion if the court believes that it needs additional time to consider the legal and factual issues before it.
November 07, 2023
Judge Excludes Expert; Parties Weigh Moves After LTL Bankruptcy Stay Ends

RALEIGH, N.C. — Parties to an asbestos talc-related mesothelioma case told a federal judge in North Carolina that recent developments lifted the stay imposed by the LTL Management LLC bankruptcy and that the parties were working toward an agreement that would permit the filing of an amended complaint naming the company. The status report came in response to a ruling seeking information on the stay and granting a defendant’s motion to exclude experts and for summary judgment.
November 07, 2023
Plaintiff, John Crane Inc. Debate Immediate Appeal Of Maritime Damages Ruling

BOSTON — An asbestos defendant relieved of having to face loss of consortium and punitive damages claims in a maritime case argues against certifying the ruling denying the claims for interlocutory appeal, saying the decision does not alter the scope of liability, and the possibility that the case could require a second trial on damages does not warrant appellate review.
November 07, 2023
Plaintiff/Defense Experts Testifying Since Jan. 1, 2002

The following is a listing of plaintiff and defense experts who testified in trials covered by Mealey's Litigation Report: Asbestos since Jan. 1, 2002.
November 07, 2023
Pennsylvania High Court To Review Disease Act Exclusivity In Asbestos Case

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a petition and agreed to decide whether under the state’s Occupational Disease Act, a man’s asbestos-related injury case properly belongs before a trial court or the state’s workers’ compensation system.
November 02, 2023
B-Reader Urges Reinstatement Of Claims Against Asbestos Bankruptcy Trust Auditor

NEW ORLEANS — The evidence showed that a company intentionally crafted an audit report of asbestos trust X-ray submissions with a small sample size and unqualified reviewers in a successful effort to exclude a high-volume B-reader, the expert who claims that he ceased operating his business in the wake of the report told the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in seeking to revive negligence and intentional interference claims.
November 02, 2023
California High Court Rejects Asbestos-Talc Experts Ruling Case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Supreme Court on Nov. 1 denied Johnson & Johnson’s petition for review asking the court to decide the standard applied to evidentiary rulings, the admission of nonwitness expert opinions and how courts should evaluate cases alleging exposure to asbestos in products not designed to contain asbestos.
November 02, 2023
Federal Judge Won’t Compel Asbestos Trust Claims Under North Dakota Law

FARGO, N.D. — Nothing in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits a court to enforce a North Dakota law mandating the filing of claims with asbestos bankruptcy trusts given that such claims are not required where the costs would exceed recovery, and since the plaintiffs responded to interrogatories by stating that they have not filed any such claims, the court lacks any grounds to compel further response, a federal judge in North Dakota said.
November 02, 2023
Asbestos-Talc Companies: Supplemental Report Improperly Contains New Information

NEW YORK — A man opposing a motion to preclude supplementation of an expert report “hopes that this court has amnesia” about the lack of epidemiological evidence linking talc and mesothelioma or that other courts have found asbestos expert Jacqueline Moline’s opinions spurious, defendant companies tell a federal judge in New York.
November 01, 2023
Parties Debate Whether Asbestos Liability Provision Is ‘Elephant In A Mousehole’

WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Nov. 1 on whether an asset purchase agreement between Bayer AG and Merck & Co. Inc. left the latter responsible for asbestos-talc liabilities for the time it operated consumer talc operations or sunset the liabilities after seven years.
October 31, 2023
Conclusory Affidavit Can’t Free Porsche From Asbestos Case, N.Y. Court Says

NEW YORK — An affidavit stating that an automaker was not distributing asbestos-containing products during the period of a man’s exposure is conclusory and not grounds on which to grant summary judgment, a New York appeals court said in affirming the denial of summary judgment to the automaker.
October 31, 2023
Responding To J&J, Plaintiffs Downplay New Jersey Asbestos-Talc Experts Ruling

TRENTON, N.J. — A ruling on a trial court’s role in admitting asbestos-talc expert testimony was wrong in several respects and will soon be on further appeal, but Johnson & Johnson’s citation to it “reflects a profound misunderstanding about the fraud, fraudulent concealment, and fraud on the court” claims in the current case against it, two plaintiffs say in an Oct. 30 letter brief.
October 31, 2023
Irish Appellate Court Revives Take-Home Asbestos Case

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — An appellate court in Northern Ireland revived a man’s case claiming that he developed pleural plaques after exposure to asbestos on his father’s work clothing.
October 30, 2023
Asbestos Exclusion Cannot Be Construed As Bar To Coverage, Judge Says

ROME, Ga. — A Georgia federal judge denied an insurer’s motion to dismiss its insured’s suit seeking a declaration that coverage is owed for an underlying asbestos bodily injury suit after determining that the asbestos exclusion in the insurer’s policies must be construed in favor of the insured because the insured has stated a claim for which relief can be granted as the insured maintains that its talc products do not contain asbestos.
October 30, 2023
Man: Attempts At Striking J&J Asbestos-Talc Allegations Premature, At Best

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A motion to strike asbestos-talc allegations against various Johnson & Johnson entities ignores the complicated and fact-intensive nature of the request in what amounts to a premature summary judgment motion, but regardless, the fact-filled complaint suffices under Connecticut law, demonstrates grounds for imposing successor liability and, even if Texas law applied to the case, would not shield the defendants from liability, a man told a Connecticut judge on Oct. 27.