asbestos News

EPA Moves to End Asbestos Cleanup Along Montana Railroad

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) _ Environmental regulators are moving to end a years-long cleanup along dozens of miles of railroad in two northwestern Montana communities where lung-damaging asbestos from mining has been blamed in hundreds of deaths. The asbestos came from …

Jury Awards $36.5M to Former Libby Miner With Lung Disease

BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — A Montana jury has awarded $36.5 million in damages to an Oregon man who suffers from lung disease because of exposure to asbestos while working at a vermiculite mine in Libby, a bellwether case that could …

Judge Greenlights J&J Strategy to Resolve Talc Lawsuits in Bankruptcy Court

Johnson & Johnson can use the bankruptcy system to resolve multibillion-dollar litigation claiming its talc products cause cancer, a U.S. judge ruled on Friday, signing off on a legal maneuver that enables the company to avoid fighting more than 38,000 …

California Court Rejects Motiva Insurance Claim Stemming From 2017 Refinery Fire

A California state appeals court on Monday denied Motiva Enterprises’ request for insurance coverage for a settlement with workers injured in a 2017 fire at its 607,000-barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas refinery. In a decision on Monday, a panel of the …

Montana Court Upholds Most Points in Ruling That Cost Insurer $98M for Libby Mine Claims

The Montana Supreme Court upheld all but one point in a ruling that requires Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity Co. to reimburse the state nearly $98 million for the cost of asbestos litigation tied to the Libby Mine. In a 6-1 …

Viewpoint: Returning to Work After COVID, Long-Haul Cases, Vaccine Mandates

Remember when we thought COVID would die down last summer, once vaccines became more widely available? Instead, we find ourselves still in the throes of the pandemic, managing the return to the workplace, vaccine mandates, long-haul COVID cases, and presumption …

J&J Seeks Victory in Fight With Baby Powder Cancer Victims

Johnson & Johnson could start collecting on its new legal strategy for dealing with baby-powder cancer claims as early as Wednesday as it seeks to win an initial courtroom showdown with 35,000 people who claim they were hurt by the …

J&J Puts Talc Liabilities Into Bankruptcy

Oct 14 – Johnson & Johnson on Thursday put into bankruptcy tens of thousands of legal claims alleging its Baby Powder and other talc-based products caused cancer, offloading the potential liabilities into a newly created subsidiary. J&J put the talc …

Judge Declines to Stop J&J From Splitting Talc Liabilities From Main Business

A U.S. judge declined to stop Johnson & Johnson from taking steps to offload widespread Baby Powder liabilities from the rest of its business, preserving the option for the healthcare company to move thousands of claims from people who used …

U.S. Supreme Court Rebuffs J&J Appeal Over $2B Baby Powder Judgment

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear Johnson & Johnson’s bid to overturn a $2.12 billion damages award to women who blamed their ovarian cancer on asbestos in the company’s baby powder and other talc products. …