Johnson & Johnson has been in hot water lately over its iconic baby powder product. More than 14,000 lawsuits have been filed by both men and women claiming that the product caused them to develop cancer. Many of these lawsuits claim that the talc powder contained asbestos, a known cancer-causing mineral. The U.S. government has gotten involved; the Department of Justice is investigating claims that the company was aware of asbestos contamination and hid it. Some experts have testified in trials that samples of the baby powder that was tested contained asbestos.
The Flushing-Murray Hill Patch reports that a woman has filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, claiming that baby powder caused her to develop cancer.
53-year-old Christine H. Simpson has filed a $75,000 lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson. She says that a lifetime of using the company’s baby powder caused her to develop ovarian cancer in 1987. The cancer caused her to need chemotherapy and tumor-removal surgery.
Simpson’s lawsuit is one of 14,000 similar lawsuits filed against the company. The lawsuits allege that Johnson & Johnson ignored several scientific studies that linked talc to increased risk of ovarian cancer. The lawsuits also allege that the company’s advertisement of “clinically proven to be gentle and mild” was false advertisement.
Simpson’s lawsuit points to 22 studies done over the course of about 30 years that linked genital talc use in females to ovarian cancer. One doctor recommended that the company add a warning to its product back in 1982.
On the same day that Simpson’s suit was filed, a New Jersey judge ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $37.3 million to plaintiffs who claimed the asbestos found in the talc gave them mesothelioma.
Have you been injured by the use of talc? We can help. Call today.