A New Jersey state appeals court revived a pair of suits against Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday, August 5th, alleging J&J talc products caused two women to develop ovarian cancer. The appeals court stated the trial court judge was wrong in dismissing the opinions of the plaintiffs' experts.
In the court opinion, the three-judge panel held Atlantic County Judge Nelson C. Johnson's assessment of the opinions offered by Dr. Graham Colditz and Dr. Daniel Cramer was based solely on their credibility, a judgment which his beyond his duties. By using the judgments provided by the defendants' experts and criticisms of the plaintiffs' experts in his opinion, the panel stated that Judge Johnson overstepped his judiciary duties by solely trusting the defendants' experts over the plaintiffs. The panel opinion noted that verifying the credibility of an expert's findings is not the responsibility of a judge.
With the reinstatement of Dr. Cramer and Dr. Colditz's expert testimony a dispute of material fact exists, and the panel ruled the summary judgment must be reversed so the case can continue.
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