talc litigation

The Advisory Committee responsible for drafting and proposing this new rule noted that the change reflects the broad consensus developed over the last five years of meetings that Rule 702 has been improvidently applied in many cases.

“Early lawsuits against the company pointed to talc as a cause of ovarian cancer, though the scientific evidence was not conclusive.

For those unfamiliar with the Texas Two-Step, you can find my earlier discussion of J&J here.

Proving negligence requires four elements, including “carelessness,” or the breach of a legal standard of care on the part of a defendant, and establishing a direct causal link between the defendant’s carelessness and the harm or disease.

The bankruptcy system proves a centralized proceeding for resolving claims, determining the company’s financial status before aggregating all claims in a common forum.