Cancer Lawsuits Skyrocket Forcing Imreys Into Bankruptcy
Imrey's Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the wake of the adverse publicity surrounding its talc production
Friday, February 15, 2019 - The number of individuals suing Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Colgate-Palmolive, and their talc supplier, Imreys, Inc, has skyrocketed to over 15,000 plaintiffs in recent weeks. Those individuals with ovarian cancer or mesothelioma have had their cases bolstered by a recent expose published by the investigative news-gathering organization, Reuters Inc., claiming internal Johnson & Johnson correspondence shows that the talc used to make Johnson's Baby Powder contained asbestos, a known carcinogenic. A similarly scathing article followed shortly thereafter in the New York Times, another news source with an impeccable reputation for telling the truth. The memos also point to the company executive's unwillingness to share this devastating consumer danger with US Food and Drug Administration regulators and also failed to warn consumers by placing a warning label on bottles of their baby powder. In addition to the Reuters article, an enormous jury award lit the fuse of talcum powder cancer concerns and caused the number of lawsuits filed against the three companies listed above to skyrocket. Talcum powder cancer warning should have been issued to the public long ago by Johnson and Johnson which refused to admit asbestos is found in their baby powder and feminine hygiene talcum products.
In 2018, jurors awarded 22 women suing JNJ and Imreys $4.69 billion for the ovarian cancers they developed, and some died from, alleging the disease was caused by their lifelong use of Johnson's Baby Powder for the purpose of feminine hygiene. Imreys settled the case before it went to trial for an undisclosed amount thought to be around $5 million per plaintiff. When Johnson & Johnson sought to overturn the massive punitive damages award they were not only denied but additionally were scolded by Missouri Circuit Court Judge Rex Burlison who admonished the defendants "there was "substantial evidence" of "particularly reprehensible conduct" by J&J, saying that executives "knew of the presence of asbestos in products that they knowingly targeted for sale to mothers and babies, knew of the damage their products caused, and misrepresented the safety of these products for decades," this according to CNBC.com.
As a result of the weight of the 15,000 lawsuits filed against them, and the potential for billions of dollars in legal liability the company faces, Imreys Inc., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company continues to contend that its talc supply is asbestos-free and are determined to come out of the current crisis as a thriving business. "After carefully evaluating all possible options, we determined that pursuing Chapter 11 protection is the best course of action to address our historic talc-related liabilities and position the filing companies for continued growth," Imerys Talc America said in a statement, " according to Reuters. Imerys S.A. is a French multinational company which specializes in the production and processing of industrial minerals. It is headquartered in Paris, operates in 50 countries and has more than 16,000 employees.
It is well-known fact in the mining industry that talc, the active ingredient in hundreds of popular consumer cosmetic products including the iconic Johnson's Baby Powder, is mined in close proximity to asbestos mines in the US and around the world. What is less well-known is that cross-contamination of talc with asbestos is almost a certainty as mineral deposits intersect and overlap naturally in the ground that is mined. Once mixed, it is impossible to separate asbestos out of talc. What was not known at all until about a month ago is that, if internal company memos are to be believed, the only people that have been aware of this cross-contamination was Johnson & Johnson and Imreys themselves.
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