A Johnson & Johnson ovarian cancer lawsuit is on its way from Missouri state court to a federal multidistrict litigation in New Jersey.

Twenty separate plaintiffs have joined in this claim against Johnson & Johnson and Imerys Talc America Inc.

The plaintiff allege those companies failed to provide proper warnings about the link between ovarian cancer and the talc found in Johnson & Johnson products like Shower to Shower and Johnson’s Baby Powder.

The Johnson & Johnson ovarian cancer lawsuit plaintiffs include women who say they have developed ovarian cancer after years of using the defendants’ talcum powder products in their genital area.

Some plaintiffs are the personal representatives of the estates of women who have already died from ovarian cancer.

According to this Johnson & Johnson ovarian cancer lawsuit, these plaintiffs were diagnosed with ovarian cancer anywhere between 1996 and 2015. Some of them allege having used talcum powder in their perineal area for decades before they were diagnosed.

Simultaneous with its Notice of Removal, Johnson & Johnson is also asking the court to dismiss the claims of 17 plaintiffs who are not from Missouri.

The company argues that because these plaintiffs are not from Missouri, Johnson & Johnson is not subject to personal jurisdiction in Missouri for claims these plaintiffs bring in that state.

The defendants further claim that the plaintiffs, seeking to keep their Johnson & Johnson ovarian cancer lawsuit in Missouri state court, have purposely joined each other from the several different states in which they reside in an attempt to prevent federal courts from having jurisdiction over this action.

Johnson & Johnson Ovarian Cancer Lawsuit Headed for N.J.

In removing this claim to a Missouri federal court, defendant Johnson & Johnson says it intends to have the case transferred into a multidistrict litigation, or MDL, now proceeding in a federal court in New Jersey.

The baby powder cancer MDL was created in October 2016 by the federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The panel transferred nine existing Johnson & Johnson lawsuits and 12 potential tag-along actions to a single court.

The panel found that New Jersey would be the most sensible venue for the MDL, since it’s the home of defendant Johnson & Johnson and the location of most of the relevant witnesses and documentary evidence.

The New Jersey venue would also promote coordination with parallel claims that are going on in nearby state courts up and down the East Coast, the panel said.

Plaintiffs in these claims generally allege that Johnson & Johnson failed to address a risk of ovarian cancer associated with talcum powder.

These several ovarian cancer lawsuits raise core common questions such as whether talcum powder causes cancer, whether Johnson & Johnson knew about such a risk, and how the company should have addressed that risk.

The Johnson & Johnson Ovarian Cancer Lawsuit is Case No. 4:16-cv-02165 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The Johnson & Johnson Ovarian Cancer MDL is In re: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Products Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL no. 2738, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.