N.J. Talc Plaintiffs Whose Claims Were Dismissed File Appellate Brief; Say Court ‘Usurped Role of Jury’

TRENTON, N.J. –– Plaintiffs whose talcum powder claims were thrown out last year by a New Jersey state court have filed their appellate brief, maintaining that the trial court “substituted its own judgment for that of the scientists and usurped the role of the jury by holding what was in effect a bench trial on the issue of causation.”

In the Jan. 23 brief filed in the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court, the plaintiffs argued that the trial court misapplied New Jersey law on admissibility, “drew scientific conclusions that it was not competent to draw,” made credibility …