Government Opens a New Investigation of Johnson's Baby Powder
The Justice Department suspects the company of lying when defending the safety of its baby powder brand
Monday, July 15, 2019 - The Johnson's Baby Powder cancer scandal reached a shocking new level the other day when Federal authorities at the Justice Department launched a criminal investigation of Johnson & Johnson for potentially lying to the public about the safety of the iconic talcum cosmetic brand. Over 13,000 people have filed lawsuits claiming that the everyday use of Johnson's Baby Powder caused them to develop ovarian cancer or mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs. Johnson's Baby Powder already carries a warning label alerting consumers that breathing baby powder can cause breathing problems, hardly an adequate description of the deadly disease. The government probe will run parallel to the current grand jury investigation launched in February 2019, pertaining to whether or not executives at the company knew that their talc supply was contaminated with asbestos as per internal company memos and personal testimony. Juries have already awarded billions to consumers who used the product and developed cancer, although the verdicts are under appeal. Attorneys for the company stress that there have been no new developments in the case as per an article in Forbes.com. Talcum powder cancer lawsuits continue to be filed by Americans harmed from the use of talcum powder and the negligence of Johnson and Johnson withholding information from the public about their talcum powder containing asbestos.
The Japan News.com weighed in on the latest development in the case and said that previous lawsuits uncovered internal company memos that indicate JNJ executives have been aware of their talc's asbestos problem for at least the last 70 years. According to the News "some of the lawsuits have turned up internal memos as far back as the 1960s and '70s that contain warnings from company scientists that asbestos detected in J&J's talc was a "severe health hazard" that could pose a legal risk for the company." While it is unclear the exact nature of the new government probe, experts think the inquiry will focus on the truthfulness of the company's public denial.
All is not lost for Johnson & Johnson, however, as the company is fighting tooth and nail to prove that their baby powder is safe and overturn the jury verdicts. In one landmark case, an appeals court has granted the company a new trial, overturning a $417 million awarded to Eva Echeverria who has passed away, citing conflicting evidence that warrants another trial. The jury had found that "JNJ improperly failed to warn Eva Echeverria about the health risks of talc-based powder" according to Bloomberg. The new trial will be the first granted on evidentiary grounds. A previous St.Louis Missouri jury verdict was overturned on due to the trial's out-of-state venue. Bloomberg reported: "In June, a Missouri appeals court threw out -- on jurisdictional grounds -- $70 million awarded to a California woman who had a St. Louis jury in 2016 weigh her claims that J&J's Baby Powder caused her cancer. The state's intermediate appellate court said Deborah Giannecchini shouldn't have been allowed to try her case as an out-of-state plaintiff."
The 13,000 or so pending lawsuits fall mainly into one or two categories. Women with ovarian cancer are suing Johnson & Johnson for developing the disease from using Johnson's Baby Powder for feminine hygiene purposes on a regular basis for an extended period of years, sometimes decades. Others claim that inhaling Johnson's Baby Powder dust caused them to develop mesothelioma, an equally deadly form of cancer of the lining of the lungs caused by asbestos.
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