The first virtual trial involving cosmetic talcum powder ended abruptly this week with a mistrial after the plaintiff, a 54-year-old man with mesothelioma, became too ill to communicate with his attorneys.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kaus told jurors, via Zoom, that he would have to declare a mistrial given that Rosalino “Louie” Reyes, the plaintiff, had taken a “turn for the worse.”