Georgia Talc Cases Dismissed After Plaintiff’s Talc Expert Fails To Prove Causation

A three-judge panel of a Georgia appellate court on Oct. 28 dismissed four talc cases after finding that a plaintiff’s medical expert failed to prove that talc exposure was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries.

The Georgia Court of Appeals found that medical expert, Dr. Richard Kradin, failed to opine that there may have been other potential causes for the four plaintiffs’ ovarian cancers, thus violating a state statute. Under Georgia law, a medical expert must make a prima facia case that asbestos was the sole proximate case of causing an injury, as well as opine that no other potential causes could have also contributed to the disease.

The court found that Dr. Kradin failed to meet all four requirements of a 2007 Georgia law that mandates that experts certify that no other source could have been the sole proximate cause of the disease. White Dr. Kradin certified other prongs of the statute, he failed to certify that no other exposure or source could have caused the women’s ovarian cancers.

As such, the appeals court dismissed the four cases brought by women that alleged that their ovarian cancers were caused by decades of asbestos-contaminated talc use by Johnson & Johnson baby powder products. Each woman claimed between 20-40 years of baby powder use and died of ovarian cancer prior to trial.

The cases are Johnson & Johnson v. Shiver, Case No. A21A0832; Johnson & Johnson v. Adams, Case No. A21A1294; Johnson & Johnson v. Amin, Case No. A21A1038; Johnson & Johnson v. Shrodes, Case No. A21A0935.

The appellate court opinion can be found here.