Mesothelioma Suit Against Colgate Palmolive to Move Forward

Though the majority of mesothelioma claims are filed against industrial manufacturers and suppliers that produced or sold items like brake linings, insulation, floor and ceiling tiles, and shipyard materials components, an increasing number of victims are coming forward and naming a different type of product and defendant. Consumer giants, including Johnson & Johnson and others, are being accused of selling asbestos-contaminated talc-based products to American consumers.  Many claims have been filed against Colgate Palmolive.

Colgate Palmolive’s Cashmere Bouquet Powder Blamed for Malignant Mesothelioma

The mesothelioma lawsuit was filed by Caroline Zicklin, who alleges she was exposed to asbestos from her use of Colgate Palmolive’s Cashmere Bouquet powder and that it led to her diagnosis with malignant mesothelioma. Ms. Zicklin describes more than two decades of using the product, from the early 1950s to the end of the 1970s, detailing her use of a powder puff and seeing the dust “fly around.”

To support her mesothelioma claim, Ms. Zicklin presented Colgate’s own testing, independent testing, geological surveys, and the establishment of the presence of asbestos in talc within the scientific and medical community. Despite this, the company argued that the case should be dismissed. They argued that their product has never contained asbestos and that she would not have been exposed to sufficient levels of asbestos from their product to have caused her illness. They also claim that her mesothelioma was a result of having smoked Kent cigarettes with Micronite filters that contained crocidolite amphibole asbestos.

Judge Sides with Mesothelioma Victim, Allows Case to Move Forward

In his review of both sides’ arguments, Justice Adam Silvera of the Supreme Court of New York County noted that despite Colgate Palmolive’s assertion of no causal connection between mesothelioma and talc exposure, Ms. Zicklin had presented an article from the Center for Disease Control that expressly stated that malignant mesothelioma could develop after short-term asbestos exposure, and a case study indicating that use of cosmetic talc products of the course of twenty years would create significant and repeated exposure to asbestos.

The judge also noted that precedent had established that even if Ms. Zicklin’s having smoked Kent cigarettes contributed to her illness, it would only amount to contributory negligence and would not negate Colgate Palmolive’s product’s effect on her health. Because there are triable issues of fact to be determined, the judge denied the company’s motion to dismiss the case.