A shareholder suit over Johnson & Johnson’s sale of talc products that allegedly contain asbestos fibers was dismissed by a New Jersey federal judge.

U.S. District Chief Judge Freda Wolfson of the District of New Jersey dismissed the lawsuit Sept. 27 without prejudice based on the plaintiff’s failure to make a presuit demand on Johnson & Johnson’s board of directors, a violation of the New Jersey Business Corporation Act. She rejected the claims of plaintiff Marc Hirschfeld that such a gesture would be futile and that the circumstances are subject to a futility exception to the court rule that was the basis of the demand requirement before the statute was enacted.