Florida Talc Trial Opens Against Johnson & Johnson: Plaintiffs Say “It Was Not Pure”

Today, jurors in Broward County, Florida, heard opening statements in a new talc trial against Johnson & Johnson, brought by the family of Dr. Albert Casaretto, a 78-year-old physician who died in 2022 from mesothelioma after decades of daily talc use.

Plaintiffs are represented by Chris Tisi of Levin Papantonio, as well as John Uustal and Cristina Pierson of Kelly | Uustal.

Levin Papantonio Leads Opening for the Plaintiffs

Tisi painted a clear picture of how Casaretto’s routine use of Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder exposed him to asbestos for more than half a century.

According to both Law.com and Florida Business Review Online, Tisi told jurors:

“He’d stand there every morning for 50 years, like we brush our teeth,” Tisi said, mimicking the act of shaking baby powder. “A cloud, all the time, every day, for 50 years. Breathing it in, every day.”

Tisi underscored that Johnson & Johnson had long marketed its powder as “pure,” but evidence will show otherwise.

“For over a century, this iconic product was marketed as pure,” Tisi said. “It was not pure, it could not be made pure.”

He added that one ingredient missing from the label was asbestos, a well-known carcinogen. Internal documents show Johnson & Johnson knew it could have used corn starch instead, a safer alternative, but chose not to, Tisi said.

Medical Evidence Linking Talc to Disease

Tisi introduced a medical report from Casaretto’s physician, who, after eliminating workplace exposure as a possible cause, concluded that Casaretto’s mesothelioma was linked to decades of talc use, reported Florida Business Review Online.

Law.com added that Plaintiffs plan to support this claim with expert testimony from William Longo and Dr. JacquelineMoline, whose research has found asbestos in talcum powder and helped drive earlier verdicts against Johnson & Johnson.

The Bigger Picture

As both outlets reported, Johnson & Johnson’s bankruptcy maneuvers have delayed ovarian cancer talc trials, but mesothelioma cases like Casaretto’s have continued forward. Many of those cases are led by firms nationwide, but today’s opening in Fort Lauderdale showcased Levin Papantonio’s leadership in the fight to hold Johnson & Johnson accountable.

For plaintiffs, the heart of the case is simple: a product trusted by families for generations was contaminated with asbestos. As Tisi told jurors, Johnson & Johnson’s claims of purity were false, and consumers like Dr. Casaretto paid the ultimate price.