LTL Management, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), has filed a second lawsuit against three experts who authored a report in 2020 linking J&J’s talcum powder products to cancer caused by asbestos contamination. Filed July 7 in New Jersey, the lawsuit names Drs. Theresa Emory, Richard Kradin, and John Maddox, all of whom have testified in numerous talc trials, according to Law.com.
Emory and Maddox are affiliated with Peninsula Pathology Associates in Newport News, Virginia, while Kradin is a pulmonologist and pathologist residing in New Hampshire.
The lawsuit alleges that the research provided by the plaintiffs’ experts is fraudulent because their report included at least six of 75 people who were exposed to asbestos in other products besides cosmetic talc. The individuals in the report were identified through court records.
Erik Haas, worldwide vice president of litigation for J&J, stated per Law.com, "The complaint details the 'junk science' published and promoted by three doctors—who were paid millions by the plaintiffs' bar—to deliberately defame our products. These disparaging publications cause great harm to us and to our customers and the patients who are misled as to the actual cause of their health issues."
The 2020 report supported the findings of previous research conducted by Dr. Jacqueline Moline, another expert representing the plaintiffs. Dr. Moline, an occupational medicine specialist and professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in Hempstead, New York, was also sued by LTL in December 2019 and then again in May 2023 after the company filed its second bankruptcy.
A 2019 article by Dr. Moline that connected mesothelioma cases to cosmetic talc has been cited in numerous trials against J&J. However, the names of the individuals mentioned in both expert reports have not been disclosed.
LTL attempted to identify these individuals by matching their claims with the facts presented in talc trials against J&J. One of the alleged individuals mentioned is Stephen Lanzo, a plaintiff in a New Jersey case who was identified in both lawsuits. According to Friday's lawsuit, Lanzo had asbestos pipes removed from his basement and was exposed to asbestos during his school years.
This is the second time LTL has sued Emory, Kradin and Maddox. The subunit, created in 2021 by J&J to hold talc cancer mass tort liabilities, filed a similar complaint in January, but the lawsuit became moot after the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a bankruptcy judge’s decision to protect LTL’s Chapter 11 protection.
In March, the Third Circuit refused to rehear a bid to revive LTL’s bankruptcy case, leaving in place a January ruling that LTL’s bankruptcy was filed in bad faith because the company wasn’t financially distressed.
LTL Management filed its second bankruptcy petition in April. The revamped restructuring plan included a $9 billion offer to settle talc cancer lawsuits.
Per Law.com, Moshe Maimon, Lanzo's attorney, called the latest LTL lawsuit filled with unsupported claims made by the company's lawyers. He stated, "Indeed, it is often the case that J&J's lawyers make a big fuss about there being some alternative asbestos exposure, only for the actual evidence not being there. As for J&J, this is straight out of their playbook—to make an enemies list, seek to compromise scientific publications they don't like, and to bully experts. I am confident that the latest attempt will be seen by the court for what it is and be dismissed as well."
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