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Jan 16, 2025 | 
asbestos.com | Travis Rodgers |Amy Edel
The jury in a mesothelioma case against Johnson & Johnson attempted to award plaintiff Michelle Felton $22 million even though J&J won the case. Jessica Dean, Felton’s attorney, said she had never seen a jury award damages on an issue not meant to be considered before. Michelle Felton is executor of the estate of Michaeleen Lee who died of mesothelioma. Lee used J&J’s talcum powder for decades. The suit alleged the talc was contaminated with asbestos.
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
asbestos.com | Travis Rodgers |Amy Edel
Thousands of people are under mandatory evacuation orders as uncontrolled wildfires rage in the Los Angeles area of Southern California. Others are also making the difficult choice to evacuate their homes and businesses as these deadly fires spread rapidly. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for the area. As these fast-moving flames consume homes, businesses, schools and industrial buildings, legacy asbestos in older structures can be released into the air.
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Jan 9, 2025 | 
asbestos.com | Travis Rodgers |Amy Edel
Andrew Curtin, of North Yarmouth, Maine, filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson for $25 million in September 2024. Curtin’s wife, Cynthia Cartwright, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2017 and died 4 days after receiving her diagnosis. The suit claims she regularly used J&J’s talc-based baby powder and asbestos contamination of the talc caused her illness and death.
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Jan 6, 2025 | 
asbestos.com | Travis Rodgers |Amy Edel
Congress passed a law in 2023 requiring the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to release new industry standards for asbestos testing in products. The agency will require manufacturers of all talc-containing products to test them for asbestos. The FDA’s proposal follows years of lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson and other companies over allegations of asbestos-contaminated talc.
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Nov 25, 2024 | 
asbestos.com | Travis Rodgers
An Oregon judge has ruled that a verdict against Johnson & Johnson in an asbestos case is constitutional. Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Katharine von Ter Stegge declined to reduce or void $260 million awarded in June 2024. Kyung Lee, who has mesothelioma, was awarded $200 million in punitive damages. She was also awarded $60 million in compensatory damages. Judge von Ter Stegge ruled both amounts are constitutional. J&J asked for a new trial 3 months after the verdict.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
asbestos.com | Travis Rodgers
Mayo Clinic researchers have created a new blood test to better detect mesothelioma. This could result in earlier diagnoses. It might also lead to new options for targeted therapies. The test finds complex DNA patterns that are common in mesothelioma cells. This new approach is more accurate than standard mesothelioma blood tests. This may also lead to better tracking of how a patient’s treatment is progressing.
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Nov 4, 2024 | 
asbestos.com | Travis Rodgers |Amy Edel
Donna Spurling alleges Fairmont State University in West Virginia knowingly exposed her to asbestos. Doctors diagnosed her with mesothelioma in 2022. She attended FSU from 1998 to 2004. She filed an 18-count mesothelioma lawsuit that names the university as well as Mon General Hospital, WVU Health System, the State Board of Risk and Insurance Management and Metlife Insurance as defendants.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
asbestos.com | Travis Rodgers |Amy Edel
A high-stakes trial is ahead for Johnson & Johnson in January 2025. A federal judge in Houston will decide on the company’s $8.2 billion settlement offer. If approved, it will end thousands of cancer lawsuits linked to J&J’s baby powder. The settlement offer includes plans for a third bankruptcy filing. J&J subsidiary Red River Talc LLC filed a “voluntary prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy case” in September 2024. The Texas Two-Step strategy shifts the cost of talc lawsuits to a subsidiary.
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Oct 21, 2024 | 
asbestos.com | Travis Rodgers |Amy Edel
A jury awarded $39 million to a family in a lawsuit related to the use of talc in a medical procedure. Plaintiff Bryce Zundel was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2021 and underwent the procedure at the center of the case in 2014. Zundel’s lawsuit claimed the talc used in his pleurodesis was contaminated with asbestos. During a pleurodesis, medical-grade talcum powder is injected into the pleural space to prevent fluid or air buildup.
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Oct 21, 2024 | 
asbestos.com | Travis Rodgers |Amy Edel
Shared Stories: How Asbestos Changed Our Lives Forever now contains more than 200 personal stories about how asbestos has affected people’s lives. The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization has just released a significantly expanded version of its 2013 book and launched a new website to raise awareness about the toxic mineral. Faces, names and personal details of people who’ve lost their lives or are dealing with an asbestos-related disease fill its page. The first edition contained 70 stories.
