In a trial to determine if Johnson & Johnson baby powder caused a Merced man to develop a rare cancer, defense attorneys on Wednesday questioned a Stanford University oncologist plaintiff witness about his resume, pay and motives.
At times during the session, Dr. Dean Felsher appeared irritated with the questions. He admitted so later and said he was frustrated with aspects of the defense attorney questions.
The trial in the Alameda Superior Court is being streamed live courtesy of Courtroom View Network.
Allison Brown, the attorney for Johnson & Johnson, asked Felsher why when he conducted a zoom communication with the plaintiff Anthony Valadez and his mother, Ana Camacho, they were not questioned in more detail about where they bought baby powder. The defense has called attention to Valadez’s mother traveling to Monterey and San Jose to purchase the powder and why she would travel 100 miles (one-way) to do so.
Brown said Save Mart in San Jose and Monterey were reported as the points of purchase, but they didn’t exist at the time the purchases were made.
“I didn’t know where the specific retailers existed that wasn’t my area of expertise,” Felsher responded. “Mr. Valadez could barely talk (during zoom conference) he was so sick. This was painfully awful to see this young man (24) destroyed by cancer. You’re asking me why they traveled to a Target Store?”
“Are these allegations important to you?” Brown asked.
“Did he (Valadez) tell me he used baby powder… yes,” Felsher responded.
Felsher added that he didn’t expect to ask Valadez if he got the baby powder at a different location than Merced.
“Especially when he’s dying,” he said.
Valadez is suing Johnson & Johnson and other corporations including retailers Safeway, Walmart and Target stores plus LTL Management Company, claiming exposure to talc powder for 23 years between 1998 and 2022 caused his mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the linings of the lungs.
Valadez has pericardial mesothelioma, the rarest of three types of the disease. The other two are pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma.
Johnson & Johnson has faced 40,000 lawsuits nationally over a number of recent years and in 2023 switched from using talc powder worldwide to using corn starch in its baby powder. Experts have said it is safe and asbestos free. The company, through its subsidiary LTL, filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and later offered to settle the lawsuits for $9 billion after a federal appeals court rejected an earlier attempt to settle the claims.
Bankruptcy stopped legal actions against the company. Plaintiffs nationwide want the bankruptcy protective status removed.
A U.S. bankruptcy court allowed the Alameda trial to proceed only because Valadez is not expected to live beyond a few more months. Even if he wins a judgment any monetary award would be delayed until the bankruptcy process is resolved.
Safeway, Walmart and Target stores are accused along with J&J of selling tainted baby powder to Valadez’s mother who then used it on the plaintiff.
From the start of the trial, defense attorneys have hammered on the point that given the rarity of Valadez’s disease and the fact that millions of people use the baby powder, it’s not logical that Valadez’s illness was caused by it.
On Tuesday, Felsher told Joseph Satterley, Valadez’s attorney, that exposure to cosmetic talc was a substantial contributing cause of his mesothelioma.
On Wednesday under questioning by Brown, Felsher agreed that Valadez’s form of cancer is extremely rare.
Brown showed an invoice billed by Felsher for work on the case in the amount of $64,650.
“Work took place before we got sued did you know that?” she asked.
“No,” Felsher said.
The work including literary review (science papers) regarding the case, 10 hours of document review and six hours of case preparation for which Felsher was paid $4,800.
Brown indicated the total pay for the work was a lot of money.
“You seem surprised,” Felsher said.
“What documents did you review for 10 hours?” Brown asked.
“I don’t remember.”
Felsher objected to the characterization of Valadez as the “plaintiff.”
“He is an innocent person,” Felsher said. “I’m a professor at Stanford who has spent his career trying to cure cancer.”
Brown exhibited letters from Felsher providing information on the case with Stanford University letterhead and logo on it. She said the University does not permit this.
“Are you aware you are in violation by using the Stanford logo on litigation correspondence?” Brown asked.
“I made it clear I am not referring to Stanford,” Felsher said of the letter. “I’ve never looked at a Stanford (rules) handbook.”
“You’re not supposed to do this with bills for tens of thousands of dollars,” Brown said.
“All of it I disclose,” Felsher responded.
Brown exhibited the Stanford University rules.
“It (logo) is limited to Stanford affiliation,” Brown said. “It may not be used, see?”
“I do, I’m aware it cannot be used for commercial applications,” Felsher said.
Felsher indicated that he could remove the University logo.
He conceded that some of his professional information on a website was out of date and needed updating. He had not renewed a board certification to treat patients.
Felsher said his main job currently is to show physicians how to be successful at their jobs.
“We don’t have a professional web designer,” he said.
During re-direct examination, Satterley asked if J&J officials had always said that Valadez’s cancer is not their fault.
“That’s my understanding,” Felsher said. “I know that talc powder has some asbestos in it. I know it doesn’t take much (to cause cancer).”
“Are you an expert on where people shop (for baby powder)?” Satterley asked.
“No.”
“Has anyone ever hired you to ask why Miss Camacho (Valadez’s mother) shopped in San Jose?”
“No.”