![Latest jury trial in J&J talc litigation gets underway in California](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/01/JJ.jpg)
A California jury heard opening statements on Monday in one of several thousand lawsuits accusing Johnson & Johnson of selling talc-based products contaminated with asbestos and for failing to warn about the dangers of mesothelioma.
Plaintiff Terry Leavitt filed the lawsuit in the Alemeda County Superior Court in 2017 after she was diagnosed with mesothelioma. Unlike earlier talc lawsuits against J&J, Leavitt pointed to the asbestos contamination in talcum powder, rather than talc itself as the cancer-causing agent. The trial is set to continue throughout the following weeks.
More than 11,700 lawsuits have been filed against J&J for business practices regarding its talc-based products. Last month, J&J lost a motion to reverse a $4.69 billion jury verdict against them and in favor of 22 women, six of whom are deceased, and their families. In July, the jury awarded $550 million in damages and $4.14 billion in punitive damages.