J&J's Talc Defense Gets Harder After Cases Kept in State Courts
- Judge refused bid to send 2,400 state-court cases to Delaware
- Johnson & Johnson can use single defense if it gets them moved
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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Johnson & Johnson failed to get 2,400 state-court cancer lawsuits tied to its baby powder immediately transferred to a federal court in Delaware, where it could forge a single defense strategy.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika in Wilmington dismissed J&J’s request on Thursday, noting that the world’s largest maker of health care products is partly responsible for the boomlet of litigation over its transfer strategy that it now characterizes as a crisis.