ST. LOUIS RECORD

Questionable science continues to drive lawsuits against the weed-killer Roundup and other consumer products, placing multibillion-dollar financial burdens on companies and also hampering innovation and placing strains on taxpayers.

A federal judge has granted a motion to add class-action allegations in a case filed by the Louisiana and Missouri attorneys general alleging federal officials colluded with social media companies to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights.

A class-action has been filed against a law firm that handles debt-collection cases on behalf of the Housing Authority of St. Louis County alleging the firm made false and misleading statements to renters on public assistance.

Jurors hit Johnson & Johnson with a $110 million judgment this week as they drew a link between the company’s talc powder products and a Virginia woman’s ovarian cancer.

JEFFERSON CITY — A key tort reform measure to stop out-of-state attorneys from trying their cases in Missouri has advanced in the state legislature, but a rift between the Republican governor and some GOP senators could leave the bill in limbo.

ST. LOUIS -- A fifth high-profile trial over allegations that Johnson & Johnson talc powder products are linked to ovarian cancer got under way Tuesday, with plaintiff’s attorney Allen Smith arguing that the company put profits over its corporate responsibility.

A bill aimed at rehabilitating Missouri’s reputation as a “judicial hellhole” and magnet for frivolous lawsuits passed the Missouri House of Representatives this month, but not before a GOP lawmaker and trial attorney tried to amend the measure they said was overkill.

&&&The current vacancy on the Missouri Supreme Court has reignited debate about whether the way the state selects judges is a rigged system dominated by politics and trial attorneys or one that rightly champions merit.

JEFFERSON CITY — With a Republican now occupying the governor’s office, many Missouri lawmakers hope 2017 will be the year the state sheds its “judicial hellhole” reputation and enacts far-reaching tort reform legislation.