Johnson and Johnson aims to torpedo thousands of talc cases with one high-stakes hearing

Johnson and Johnson faces about 14,200 lawsuits alleging harm from talc, and Monday marks its next big test. In a New Jersey courtroom, the drugmaker plans to challenge expert evidence set to be presented at trial and the judges decision will determine the fate of most of the outstanding lawsuits. That evidence is key to 85% of the cases grouped for consideration in J&J's home state. If the court decides the plaintiffs' expert evidence can't be used in court, then "there's nowhere for these cases to go," a lawyer for J&J told the Wall Street Journal. Apparently, the company has high hopes for the outcome. "[W]hen folks have a chance to really look at the facts in these cases, they see that the product is safe and that the company acted responsibly," CFO Joe Wolk told analysts on the company's Q1 earnings call last week. The talc plaintiffs argue J&J's products caused them to develop cancer and that the company hid the risks from the public. Meanwhile, at a federal court in Delaware, J&J on Friday fell short in its attempt to combine 2,400 state lawsuits from around the country in the court where several units for its supplier Imerys filed for bankruptcy.