TORRANCE – In a trial to decide if Johnson & Johnson baby powder caused a woman to develop mesothelioma, an expert witness said on Thursday that asbestos had been found in the talc powder, while defense attorneys sought to portray him as a highly–paid hireling for plaintiff attorneys.
“We found tremolite asbestos and anthophyllite asbestos in Italian and Vermont talc,” Dr. William Longo a microscope researcher with the Georgia-based MAS lab told a jury. “We were seeing regulated asbestos in fibers and bundles.”
Johnson & Johnson got talc for its baby powder from mines in Italy, Vermont and more recently Korea and China.
Later in the day, defense attorneys tried to use what they said were Longo’s own words against him.
The trial in the Los Angeles Superior Court is being streamed live courtesy of Courtroom View Network.
Carolyn Weirick sued Johnson & Johnson claiming that the asbestos-tainted baby powder she used for 40 years and an adult product called Shower to Shower caused her to develop mesothelioma, a deadly cancer of the linings of the lungs. Hundreds of cases against J&J are pending across the country most filed by women alleging the powder caused them to develop ovarian cancer.
Mesothelioma is much rarer disease with 3,200 cases in the U.S. reported annually, though the number of lawsuits alleging the disease haven increased in recent months.
Longo has been considered an important plaintiff expert witness in past asbestos trials.
Jay Steumke the attorney for Weirick exhibited a chart that showed Longo’s findings, 18 of 32 samples of J&J talc from Italian mines testing positive for asbestos, 31 of 38 samples of Vermont talc and 7 of 18 samples from mines in China.
Longo said the testing was not specific regarding the finding of chrysotile, one of six asbestos-related minerals.
Another lab Forensic Analytical in California had also found asbestos in talc samples, Longo noted.
Longo said the California firm has used a testing method in addition to microscope observation called “concentration,” removing excess materials by heating them to separate them out and better spot asbestos fibers. Another type of concentration uses heavy liquid spun in a tube to separate talc powder from heavier minerals before microscope observation.
“Were the (asbestos) levels above background level?” Steumke asked.
“Yes,” Longo said.
Background is the small amount of asbestos in the air everyone breathes that is not a threat.
Longo said that based on his study of Weirick’s testimony and that of her mother he calculated that as a baby she was powdered up to eight times a day over a two-year period and over the years made a total of 13,800 applications, using approximately 208 14-ounce bottles of the powder.
Longo criticized what he claimed was the less sensitive asbestos detection methods used by Johnson & Johnson and a frequent expert witness for the company, Dr. Matthew Sanchez of the R.J. Lee Group lab in Pennsylvania.
Longo indicated the J&J method of testing had to demonstrate higher amounts of asbestos in the powder before identifying it as such. If enough wasn’t found it would be labeled “unquantifiable.”
“In sensitivity ours is a better method,” Longo said. “In my opinion it (J&J’s method) is a very flawed analysis.”
Longo said J&J testers in reports would often use words other than asbestos such as “rods, fibers, problem materials.”
Under cross examination, Warrington Parker, attorney for Johnson & Johnson with the Orrick law firm, questioned Longo about his qualifications.
“You’re not a doctor?” Parker asked.
“Not a medical doctor no,” Longo said.
“You’re not here to talk about fibers causing mesothelioma?”
“No.”
“You don’t have a degree in geology or mineralogy?”
“I do not.”
“You’ve never visited talc mines?”
“That is correct.”
“Your testing has never been published and reviewed in peer literature?” Parker asked.
“Correct.”
“You tested talc only after you were contacted by law firms?”
“Correct,” Longo said.
“They paid your company (MAS) hundreds of thousands of dollars?”
“Yes, my company would have billed them,” Longo said.
Parker displayed a 1980’s advertisement that pictured Longo in a courtroom.
“You wanted to be obtained in a court?” Parker asked.
“That is absolutely not true,” Longo said. “We wanted people to know we were one of the best labs and if challenged we would defend our data in court.”
Longo said he testified in court cases an average once a week. He agreed MAS had billed $30 million over the years.
“How much have you personally made over 30 years?”
“I don’t know I have a salary,” Longo said. “I have a $250,000 a year salary.”
You testify for plaintiffs 95 percent of the time?”
“Yes.”
Longo was asked if in 2002 he had said that it was an “urban legend” and a “myth” that there was asbestos in cosmetic talc.
“I can’t verify that was so long ago,” Longo said.
“You also said you were never able to verify tremolite (asbestos-related mineral) in cosmetic talc?”
“That’s what the deposition says,” Longo said.