On this day last year, a Broward County jury returned a $20 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson in the wrongful death of K|U client Dr. Alberto Casaretto.
Dr. Casaretto spent his career caring for others, practicing medicine for decades in the community he served. For 50 years, he also used Johnson’s Baby Powder every day, trusting it was safe.
It wasn’t until Dr. Casaretto was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, a fatal cancer caused by asbestos, that questions began to arise. He had never worked with asbestos and had no other known exposure, so the search for the source began. Experts tested one of his own bottles of baby powder and found it. A product sold as harmless by one of the world’s largest corporations had caused his fatal diagnosis, leading to his death in December 2022.
At trial, Kelley | Uustal Trial attorneys showed that Johnson & Johnson marketed its talc as gentle and safe while it was contaminated with asbestos, and that the company hid those risks for decades. John Uustal and Cristina Pierson tried the case alongside Levin Papantonio.
“He trusted the company behind it. Because of that product he lost a decade of life,” said John Uustal, Kelley | Uustal Founding Partner, in closing argument.
The jury agreed, awarding $20 million to the Casaretto family. One year later, the K|U standard remains the same: when corporations put profit ahead of people, we make them answer for it.
Relive the trial. The full trial is available on CVN. Read the original announcement here.
About Kelley | Uustal
Kelley | Uustal Trial Attorneys has spent 20 years taking cases other firms won’t. From catastrophic injury to complex commercial litigation and consumer protection, our attorneys have secured more than $1 billion in verdicts and settlements for clients nationwide.
Partner with Kelley | Uustal. Refer a case → or call (954) 522-6601.
