October 04, 2023
On October 3, 2023, approximately one week after hearing oral argument, the New Jersey Appellate Division issued an unpublished opinion overturning verdicts against Johnson & Johnson and Johnson & Johnson Consumer, Inc. in four consolidated matters, totaling $37,300,000 in compensatory damages and $186,500,000 in punitive damages, and remanding the cases for new trial. In brief, the Appellate Division found that the trial court erred when it admitted testimony by plaintiff experts James Webber, Ph.D., Jacqueline M. Moline, M.D., and William E. Longo, Ph.D. regarding cleavage fragments and testimony by Dr. Longo regarding extrapolation of exposure without performing its gatekeeping function and conducting N.J.R.E. 104 hearings or making legal determinations of reliability as to the experts’ methodology.
For more information, please contact:
Tom McNulty – tmcnulty@mkcilaw.us.com
Cait Bodtmann – cbodtmann@mkcilaw.us.com
https://www.njcourts.gov/system/files/court-opinions/2023/a0047-20a0048-20a0049-20a0050-20.pdf