Trial Magazine

In 2007, 63-year-old Eva Echeverria was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She regularly used Johnson & ­Johnson’s (J&J) talc-based baby powder for more than 50 years. In August, a Los Angeles jury found J&J liable for failing to warn her that using its talc ­products has been linked to an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Thousands of similar lawsuits are pending across the country. Too sick to attend the trial, Eva’s attorneys played a videotaped deposition in which she testified that she would have stopped using talc had there been a warning label.

Government regulations do not require J&J to provide such a warning label. Talc powder is classified as a cosmetic, so the FDA does not review it. Many scientific studies, however, have scrutinized its safety for consumer use. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer and the U.S. National Toxicology Program have both classified talc powder as a carcinogen.

While talc has garnered extensive media coverage in the past few years, it is only one in a long list of dangerous products that have slipped through regulatory cracks. That’s where trial lawyers step in. You have represented people injured or killed by Toyota sudden acceleration, Takata air bags, e-cigarettes, power tools, a slew of medical devices and drugs, and so much more—and these battles are ongoing.

During AAJ’s 2017 Annual Convention, my good friend Christine Spagnoli received the Harry Philo Award for advancing the safety of American consumers. A trial lawyer for 30 years, Chris has devoted much of her career to representing consumers catastrophically injured by defective products.

Chris said that products liability cases tell a repetitive story about companies and their products: “When you get behind the scenes of what’s going on in companies and how products get to market, you can see the internal ­decision-making to place profit over safety.” Companies often consider the risk to human safety only in terms of a cost-benefit analysis. Trial lawyers expose that calculation.

For your clients who have been severely injured, the legal system is often the only way they can get what they need for their futures. But these cases do more than just provide for individual clients: They can lead to companies issuing warning labels or even large-scale product recalls, which can prevent history from repeating itself.

AAJ has the resources to help you make the world safer for consumers. In this month’s Trial, which focuses on products liability, learn about personal jurisdiction challenges (p. 26), using evidence of corporate deceit against defendants (p. 46), and protecting workers from construction equipment defects (p. 40). And find out about upcoming amendments to the federal rule on class actions from Judge Robert Dow, chair of the Judicial Conference’s Rule 23 subcommittee (p. 34).

AAJ also publishes the Products Liability Law Reporter (PLLR), which includes a bimonthly print issue with recent case summaries and a monthly online supplement with news stories and additional cases. A subscription to PLLR also enrolls you in AAJ’s Products Liability Section.

AAJ has Litigation Groups on nearly every type of emerging litigation. The Talcum Powder/Ovarian Cancer Litigation Group and the Talcum Powder Litigation Packet are some of AAJ’s most popular member resources. If you are looking for a Litigation Group that AAJ doesn’t currently have, I encourage you to start one. And as you seek justice for your clients, remember that AAJ will always be here to help.

Correction: The November President’s Page stated that the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP) have classified talc as a carcinogen. The IARC classifies perineal use of talc-based body powder as a Group 2B carcinogen. Based on NTP research, talc was nominated for consideration to be listed as a carcinogen in 2000 but the NTP deferred consideration.

Kathleen Nastri is an attorney at Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder in Bridgeport, Conn. She can be reached at kathleen.nastri@justice.org.