Illinois State Court Judge Issues Contempt Order Against J&J

Illinois State Court Judge Issues Contempt Order Against J&J

Introduction

Illinois judge held Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in contempt on July 26, Monday, as one of the company's executives refused to reappear before the court to testify in the ongoing talcum powder trial.

According to the court documents, the plaintiff alleged that his sister died in 2016 from ovarian cancer caused by talc exposure.

Earlier, J&J's executive appeared before the court to testify in the trial but refused to reappear for cross-examination. Attorneys for J&J claim that the company informed the court beforehand that the executive will not be able to attend the court in person and will be available via video-conference. The state court judge rejected the company's request of arranging a video conference trial and announced that the company and the executive were in contempt of the court.

The trial will not have any impact on the other pending Baby Powder lawsuits and Shower-to-Shower lawsuits from women across the country. All the lawsuits claim similar allegations that the talc products of J&J caused ovarian cancer to the women.

The company is already being hit with several billion in damages in the lawsuits after the evaluation of evidence by the juries.

J&J will face the first federal talcum powder trial in April 2022. U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson is overseeing all the talcum powder lawsuits in the District of New Jersey, where all the lawsuits are consolidated under an MDL.