Baby powder is safe for babies… and if it’s safe for babies it must be safe for adults – at least that’s what we’ve all been led to believe. After all, your grandmother used it on your mother, your mother used it on you and you’ve used it on your babies. But a products liability case alleges that using baby powder containing talc for feminine hygiene purposes can cause the development of ovarian cancer.
If terms like strict liability, defect, failure to warn and breach of warranty frighten you – don’t despair! That’s the attorney’s job, not yours as the Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.
So, what is your role as a CLNC® consultant in a talc powder lawsuit? You will focus on the damages, which in this case is death from ovarian cancer. You will appropriately educate your attorney-client about everything there is to know about ovarian cancer.
As a CLNC consultant you will also focus on causation issues. You can research the relationship between talc powder and ovarian cancer. For example, genital use of talc powder has been classified as a possible carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (part of the World Health Organization). Both the plaintiff and defense attorneys would benefit from knowing this fact.
Whether working as a legal nurse consultant for the plaintiff or defense, you would assess the plaintiff’s medical records for risk factors such as family history, presence of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations that may have contributed to the ovarian cancer.
These are just a few examples of the issues you can consult on, but with estimates of more than 10,000 cases of talc-related ovarian cancer a year, CLNC consultants would be smart to get prepared to participate in these cases.
I’m Just Sayin’
P.S. Comment and share your experiences in talc powder lawsuits or in other types of products liability cases.
