Johnson's Baby Powder May Cause Additional Cancers

Recent jury awards promise to open a flood of litigation against Johnson and Johnson for the many ways Johnson's Baby Powder causes cancer

Tuesday, August 21, 2018 - Since its inception around 1900, Johnson & Johnson has built a respected and trusted brand of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices and their products can be found in virtually every American household. Johnson's Baby Powder has been used by almost everyone on earth at one time or another. When one adds up their total sales covering over 250 different products, Johnson & Johnson sales are close to $100 billion per year. One can only imagine the confusion people are experiencing every time they now hear on television or read on the internet that Johnson's Baby Powder causes cancer. But it is true.

Breathing Johnson's Baby Powder can cause mesothelioma, a scarring of the lung's inner lining as well as lung cancer from asbestos. In addition, using talc for feminine hygiene can cause particles to travel into and become lodged in the ovaries and cause inflammation that leads to ovarian cancer. A jury recently awarded 22 women, a whopping $4.69 billion on the grounds that Johnson's Baby Powder contains asbestos, a known carcinogenic, was the cause of each of their cancers, and that executives at Johnson & Johnson failed to warn them of the risks. Johnson's talc problems first came to light when the National Institute of Health (NIH) released their findings citing earlier studies that found particles of talc had become embedded in the ovaries of women who had used Johnson's Baby Powder for "perineal dusting," i.e., feminine hygiene purpose and died from ovarian cancer. Asbestos contamination, however, is only one of the ways that the talc in the baby powder may cause cancer.

Prior to the recent ovarian cancer findings, concern about the health hazard that talc presented centered around "findings of silica minerals in samples of commercial body powders in 1978. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), it was thought that inhaled powder could cause scarring of lung tissue, mesothelioma or lung cancer (Henderson et al., 1971). About half of the samples contained respirable quartz, a lung carcinogen." Such concerns at the time were reflected in the product's warning label that states, "Keep powder away from child's face to avoid inhalation which can cause breathing problems. Avoid contact with the eyes. For external use only. In a trial in June of 2018, Stephen Lanzo from Johnson & Johnson's hometown in New Jersey was awarded $117 million for the lung cancer jurors decided was the result of using Johnson's Baby Powder and Shower to Shower regularly for over 30 years. Talcum baby powder attorneys expect to file more cases in the future against Johnson and Johnson.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer listed cosmetic (perineal) talc application as possibly carcinogenic to humans. Most women use baby powder for its deodorant and drying properties and do so after taking a bath or shower every day. The company encouraged Johnson's Baby Powder and Shower to Shower Bath products with their famous slogan, "A sprinkle a day helps keep odors away."

Information provided by TalcumPowderCancerLawsuit.com, a website devoted to providing news about talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits, as well as medical research and findings.