A South Carolina jury failed to reach a verdict in the second trial of a lawsuit claiming Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder caused a rare cancer linked to asbestos exposure.
Judge Jean Toal ordered a mistrial Nov. 15 after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked 11-1 in the lawsuit brought by the husband of lawyer Bertile Boyd-Bostic, who died at age 30 of mesothelioma. The first trial on the claim in May also ended with a hung jury.
Boyd-Bostic’s husband argued J&J knew in the 1970s its talc products contained the carcinogen and failed to warn the public to protect ...