Echeverria v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 09 July 2019 |
| Docket Number | B286283 |
| Citation | 249 Cal.Rptr.3d 642,37 Cal.App.5th 292 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | JOHNSON & JOHNSON TALCUM POWDER CASES. Elisha Echeverria, as Trustee, etc., Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Johnson & Johnson et al., Defendants and Appellants. |
Robinson Calcagnie, Mark P. Robinson, Newport Beach, Kevin F. Calcagnie ; Ferguson Case Orr Paterson, Wendy C. Lascher, Ventura; Esner, Chang & Boyer, Stuart B. Esner, Los Angeles, and Holly N. Boyer, Pasadena, for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Proskauer Rose, Bart H. Williams, Manuel F. Cachán; Munger, Tolles & Olson, Mark R. Yohalem, Michael. R. Doyen ; Tucker Ellis, Michael C. Zellers ; Sidley Austin and David R. Carpenter, Los Angeles, for Defendants and Appellants.
Cole Pedroza, Curtis A. Cole, Fresno, Cassidy C. Davenport, San Marino, and Scott M. Klausner for California Medical Association, California Dental Association, and California Hospital Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants.
This case is one of several coordinated suits in which the plaintiffs allege talcum powder products manufactured by Johnson & Johnson and Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (JJCI; collectively, defendants) caused them to develop ovarian cancer
. In July and August 2017, bellwether plaintiff Eva Echeverria's case was tried to a jury on a single claim of negligent failure to warn. The jury returned a verdict in Echeverria's favor against both defendants, awarding compensatory damages of $68 million against Johnson & Johnson and $2 million against JJCI. The jury awarded punitive damages of $340 million against Johnson & Johnson and $7 million against JJCI.1 Defendants filed motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) as to liability and punitive damages, as well as a joint motion for a new trial. The trial court granted the motions. Both sides have appealed.
We affirm the JNOV in favor of Johnson & Johnson, but partially reverse as to JJCI. To establish her negligence claim, Echeverria was required to prove each defendant had a legal duty to warn consumers about hazards inherent in their talc-based products; they breached that duty; and the breach caused Echeverria's injury. The causation element required evidence that talc-based products not only cause ovarian cancer
in general (general causation), but also that defendants' products caused Echeverria's ovarian cancer in particular (specific causation). We conclude there was no substantial evidence to support a finding of liability as to Johnson & Johnson, a parent company that stopped manufacturing Johnson's Baby Powder in 1967, several years before there were any investigations or studies about a link between genital talc use and ovarian cancer. The evidence also failed to support a finding of malice as required for a punitive damages award, and we affirm the JNOV in favor of JJCI on that ground. We conclude there was substantial evidence to support the jury's other findings as to JJCI. However, we must apply a different standard of review when evaluating the trial court order granting JJCI's motion for a new trial. We determine the causation evidence was in significant conflict and would have supported a defense verdict. We therefore reverse the JNOV in favor of JJCI as to liability, but affirm the trial court order granting JCCI's motion for a new trial.
Plaintiff Eva Echeverria began using Johnson's Baby Powder as a feminine hygiene product in 1965, when she was 11 years old. She continued using the product two to three times each day, applying it to her genital area, underwear, and sanitary napkins, until 2016. She also briefly used the product "Shower to Shower." In 2007, Echeverria was diagnosed with invasive, serous, high-grade ovarian cancer
.
Johnson & Johnson manufactured Johnson's Baby Powder from 1893 until 1967. In 1967, JJCI began manufacturing the product. JJCI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.
According to Echeverria's evidence at trial, the first epidemiological study to investigate a link between talc and ovarian cancer
was published in 1982. In the decades that followed, researchers published over 30 additional epidemiological studies exploring whether there is an association between talc use and ovarian cancer. The parties' experts offered competing trial testimony about the validity, significance, and proper interpretation of these studies.2
Other scientific studies have hypothesized that talc causes ovarian cancer
by creating inflammation in the ovaries. Studies have concluded talc can migrate from the vagina into the peritoneal cavity, where the ovaries are located. Experts for both sides testified talc causes inflammation. Studies have found chronic inflammation plays a role in the development of some types of cancer. Studies referenced at trial have also indicated increased inflammation may be linked to ovarian cancer
. However, no published studies, regulatory agencies, or scientific organizations have concluded talc-based inflammation causes ovarian cancer.
The World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluates the carcinogenicity of different agents. In 2006, the IARC evaluated talc. The agency characterized perineal use of talc as possibly carcinogenic to humans, giving it a "2B" rating. This rating reflected a determination that there was "limited evidence" of carcinogenicity in humans and in experimental animals. The limited evidence determination meant: "A possible association has been observed between exposure to talc and ovarian cancer
for which a causal interpretation is considered by the working group to be credible, but chance, bias, and confounding could not be ruled out with reasonable confidence."
Some medical and scientific organizations have publicly identified genital talc use to be a risk factor for ovarian cancer
, while others have not. In 2014 and 2015, the National Cancer Institute identified perineal talc use as a risk factor for ovarian cancer
; in 2017, it indicated the weight of the evidence does not support an association between perineal talc exposure and an increased risk of ovarian cancer.
The evidence at trial included a series of documents from defendants' files regarding talc and Johnson's Baby Powder. Several of the documents lacked identified authors or other information to distinguish whether they were generated by Johnson & Johnson or JJCI. Other documents reflected communications between or among employees of both companies.
In 1964, W.H. Ashton, a Johnson & Johnson scientist, penned a memo to the file regarding plans for a test of a baby powder product composed of cornstarch, rather than talc. The goal was to "determine a preference rating" of Johnson's Baby Powder compared to another product. The memo suggested "Dry Flo," "a low substituted A1 salt of mildly treated cornstarch," could be used as a potential additive. Although other potential additives were identified, Ashton wrote Dry Flo "has a very appealing tone because it would open the door to a merchandising advantage which could refer to an all starch product ...." The memo reported: "Since the meeting, Ashton established the largest commercial uses of Dry Flo are in Vitamin A manufacture ... and as a condom lubricant where it replaced talc because it was found to be absorbed safely in the vagina whereas, of course, talc was not."
A 1975 letter on "Johnson & Johnson" letterhead bore the subject line "Talc in the Ovaries." A handwritten note on the document suggested a Johnson & Johnson scientist's contact with a cancer
research institute may have provided "the opening to put us on notice re: the talc/ovary problem."
Documents from 1986 and 1992 acknowledged genital talc use had been "implicated" or "linked" to ovarian cancer
. The 1986 document expressed a continuing belief that talcum powder products were safe. It referenced a Cosmetics, Toiletries, and Fragrance Association (CTFA) sponsored animal study concluding talc does not migrate, and also cited the company's "extensive experience in use." Still, the documents recognized that cancer concerns, risks from inhalation, and a move among health professionals to discourage use of talc-based powders on babies, all posed a potential obstacle to sales.
Documents from 1993 to 1995 reflected defendants' awareness of epidemiological studies about talc use and ovarian cancer
, their creation of a "Worldwide Talc Steering Committee," their monitoring of scientific studies and regulatory action on talc, and their strategies to respond to adverse press or media inquiries about talc safety issues. For example, a 1994 document prepared by a JJCI employee proposed answers to questions about a causal link between talc and cancer
, and about two specific epidemiological studies. The proposed answers stated one study did not show a causal relationship between talc and ovarian cancer, while the other study found a higher incidence of ovarian cancer in women who routinely used talc, yet ultimately concluded talc was unlikely to be the cause of the majority of epithelial ovarian cancers. In response to the question of whether cosmetic talc use could lead to ovarian cancer, the document offered the answer:
A 1995 memo on "Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Worldwide" letterhead, authored by "John Hopkins of Johnson & Johnson," addressed methods for responding to "adverse press and media...
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