J&J targets the science behind thousands of baby powder cancer claims

Johnson & Johnson, seeking to head off claims by thousands of women that its iconic baby powder caused their cancer, took aim at some of the science cited in lawsuits alleging the company’s talc-based products were tainted in the past with asbestos.raw Testosterone decanoate powder

During a hearing Wednesday, lawyers for the world’s largest maker of healthcare products questioned the procedures used by Dr. William Longo, who tested talcum powder for asbestos. J&J hopes a judge will bar Longo from testifying for the women suing the company in cases consolidated in federal court in Trenton, N.J.

J&J said Longo and other expert witnesses for plaintiffs used unreliable methods to conclude the talc products once contained asbestos — a carcinogen — and that exposure could cause ovarian cancer. If U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson buys J&J’s arguments and knocks out some or all of the plaintiffs’ experts, that would hamstring about 12,000 pending cases.

“Many millions of dollars are riding on how the judge comes down on the question of which experts can testify,” said David Logan, a law professor at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. “The plaintiffs have the burden of proving the powders caused cancer. If they can’t offer an expert to tell jurors about that issue, the cases go down the drain.J&J faces a total of more than 14,000 lawsuits accusing it of hiding baby powder health risks for more than 40 years to protect one of its best-known brands. The company’s shares have been under pressure because of investors’ concerns about talc litigation.