LOS ANGELES – A pathology researcher on Tuesday told a jury repeated use over the years of Johnson & Johnson baby powder and the asbestos it allegedly contained likely caused plaintiff Carolyn Weirick to develop mesothelioma.
“What are the accepted causes for mesothelioma in the U.S.?” Weirick’s lawyer Jay Stuemke asked.
“The first three main causes are asbestos, asbestos, asbestos,” answered Dr. John C. Maddox, an anatomical and clinical pathologist for Peninsula Pathology Associates, a Virginia-based lab that examines tissue samples for the presence of asbestos.
“Based on your review of stains (tissue samples) were you able to confirm the diagnoses?” Stuemke asked.
“Yes I was,” Maddox said.
“What disease is she (Weirick) suffering from?” Stuemke asked.
“She has a diffuse malignant mesothelioma epithelioid type,” Maddox said.
Coverage of the trial in the Los Angeles Superior Court is being streamed courtesy of Courtroom View Network.
Weirick’s lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson is one of hundreds of cases across the country filed by women claiming the asbestos in baby powder and an adult powder product called Shower to Shower gave them cancer. Most allege ovarian cancer. Weirick’s is one of the few to allege mesothelioma, a much rarer and fatal disease.
Maddox said life expectancy for someone with mesothelioma is an average two years with a tiny percentage of sufferers lasting five years. One lived 12 years before succumbing.
“Have you examined tissues for the presence of asbestos fibers?” Stuemke asked.
“Yes I have,” Maddox said.
Maddox, asked to explain the process of testing, said lab researchers take a small piece of lung tissue, mince it into pieces, and add strong chemicals.
“That liquefies the organic matrix of the lung tissue,” he said. “Then we run it through a filter and recover inorganic particles on the surface of the filter. We take the filter and examine it on an electron microscope to see if there is asbestos there.”
Maddox said his lab is paid $500 per hour for his services as a plaintiff witness.
He said rarely is mesothelioma caused by materials other than asbestos although exposure to mineral fibers called erionite and zeolite can cause the disease, also high doses of radiation.
Stuemke asked Maddox if he knew the meaning of a “signal tumor.”
“Yes,” Maddox said. “You have to think about a specific cause, you say that tumor is caused by that. Mesothelioma is a signal tumor for asbestos exposure.”
Maddox also explained that asbestiform means a fiber, whereas non-asbestiform means a chunk of material. Asbestiform causes mesothelioma, but chunks do not. Thin and needle-like, fibers are able to gain passage into the body’s pleural space (membranes that surround the lungs).
“Where did she (Weirick) develop mesothelioma?” Stuemke asked.
“In her right (side) pleural space,” Maddox answered.
Dr. William Longo of the Georgia-based MAS Lab a microscopy researcher appeared earlier in the week as a witness for the plaintiff. He identified asbestos in talc powder as the cause.
Stuemke asked Maddox if based on Longo’s findings and his own reviews of Weirick’s pathology slides and tissue specimens, he agreed Weirick had developed the disease from the Johnson & Johnson baby powder bottle she used (on exhibit in the courtroom).
“I believe she was exposed to asbestos from the use of what’s in that bottle," Maddox said. "It would be an exposure above normal levels. My opinion is yes, it contributed to the cause of her mesothelioma.”
Maddox added that researchers had set a latency period of an average 10 years from exposure to the development of a growing tumor.
Cross examination by the attorney for Johnson & Johnson Chris Vejnoska focused on substances that could be misinterpreted as asbestos but are not.
“You explained that mesothelioma can be caused by things other than asbestos, right? He asked.
“Yes sir there are other causes including other fibers and radioactive situations,” Maddox said.
“There are also genetic errors, cases without an external cause, correct?” Vejnoska asked.
“There are some,” Maddox said.
Vejnoska said a study had determined that half of women with mesothelioma developed it spontaneously.
“Are you familiar with that study?” he asked.
“No I’m not but I think that’s a ridiculous number,” Maddox countered.
“Talc that does not contain asbestos does not cause mesothelioma, right?” Vejnoska asked.
“Not that I know of,” Maddox said.
Vejnoska drew agreement from Maddox that he was not Weirich’s physician and that 90 percent of his court appearances in recent years have been for the benefit of plaintiffs in asbestos cases - 100 percent since 2007.
Vejnoska produced a document in which the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that minerals occur more commonly in non-asbestos form than asbestos and may be elongated in shape (similar to asbestos) without being asbestos.