Justices reject Johnson & Johnson appeal of $2B talc verdict

[DGUtley]

Is tossing it "under Daubert" like throwing it under the bus?

NO. In United States federal law, the Daubert standard is a rule of evidence regarding the admissibility of expert witness testimony. A party may raise a Daubert motion, a special motion in limine raised before or during trial, to exclude the presentation of unqualified evidence to the jury. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daubert_standard

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I see scam written all over it. There's not even any proof the women who had ovarian cancer even used talc--we have to take their word for it, and seeing as though ads have appeared on TV encouraging women with ovarian cancer to "reach out" and get "what they deserve," it's no surprise they suddenly remembered packing their panties with talc. But, that's just my jaded side coming out.

As a crotchety old defense lawyer, I am always suspicious. I just know the pain and effort that the federal court puts on making sure that there's science behind it.

[carolina73]

I can't address the medical claim but the culprit is not the talc. It is the asbestos contaminate. So these are really asbestos law suits.

Asbestos is everywhere so it becomes a level of contamination. It is in feldspar(s) that are still used every day as anti-caking agents in any number of dry powders that are used in products for your home and industry. It is also in almost every mineral ore on earth and gets released in crushing and milling the product to controlled size.

Talcum powder is actually the mineral Talc blended with Cornstarch. Talc as the drying/anti-cake agent and Cornstarch as the lubricant for comfort.

Talc (hydrous magnesium silicate) is now mined and tested per batch and asbestos free talc means that it fell below federal standards not that it is asbestos free.

I think they picked Talcum Powder because the image of sprinkling dust was easy to visualize but the woman were also smearing it on their face in makeup.
Asbestos is in their walls, countertops, roof, tile floor and the cement board under it...
Talc is used in foods as an anti-caking agent.

[Abby08]

Look at how long this baby powder has been in use, used by millions of women on themselves and, their girl babies, over several decades, yet just 22 women are claiming their ovarian cancer was caused by the powder.

I don't see how they can make a correlation between ovarian cancer and, talc based baby powder, with only 22 women who used it, getting cancer.

[carolina73]

And don't forget Dow and Silicone Breast implants that the courts got totally wrong based on bad science.

In 1995 they were found to cause cancer. In 2006 the FDA said, no they don't. To late for Dow.