New Jersey Woman Files Baby Powder Cancer Lawsuit

A married couple have filed a talcum powder lawsuit claiming the company’s failure to warn consumers led to the wife’s contraction of ovarian cancer.

Thursday, December 15, 2016 - A wife and husband have filed a Johnson & Johnson's baby powder lawsuit against the health care giant, claiming the company was aware of the harm their talcum powder products could cause and did not warn consumers. The allegation is similar to hundreds currently pending around the country against Johnson & Johnson as women realize their contraction of ovarian cancer may have been caused by their use of talcum powder as a genital hygienic product. The lawsuit was filed on December 9 before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

The talcum powder attorney representing the party suing Johnson & Johnson claims the company should be held responsible and pay damages related to the ovarian cancer contracted by the plaintiff. The evidence in the baby powder cancer lawsuit points to more than 20 medical studies that have been published with data suggesting the existence of a link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer. To date Johnson & Johnson has denied all talcum powder claims against the company, but has lost the last three trials its participated in to the tune of $195 million in damages.

The plaintiff, Julie Segreaves, was born in 1961 and had used talcum powder in a way consistent with the fashion studied for ovarian cancer links her entire life. She was eventually diagnosed with ovarian cancer in December of 2014 and filed the talcum powder lawsuit close to exactly two years after. Segreaves used Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder products to promote vaginal hygiene, as had been directed vi marketing from the company. At no time was she made aware of the medical studies that had found connections between talcum powder and ovarian cancer, nor was the existence of alternatives communicated by the company.

Segreaves' talcum powder lawyers claims that Johnson & Johnson did not warn their consumers or point to alternative products because talcum powder is one of the company's trademark products. They felt that they had more to lose with potentially damaging the brand than they did putting the consumers at risk. There are now more than 2,000 Johnson & Johnson's baby powder lawsuits pending around the country claiming that the ovarian cancer the plaintiff contracted is a result of that decision made by Johnson & Johnson.

All federal talcum powder lawsuits are currently being transferred into multidistrict litigation before the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. As the Segreaves talcum powder lawsuit is coming from Pennsylvania, the action was filed before the federal court where the MDL has been centralized. Johnson & Johnson is headquartered in New Jersey, and thus only the state court has jurisdiction over lawsuits filed in New Jersey will stay separate from the MDL. There is currently a multicounty litigation pool of claims in the state, which includes hundreds of talcum powder lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson. These claims are pending before the Atlantic City Superior Court.

The MDL was transferred just over two months ago, and this is one of the most recent lawsuits to join the proceedings. Hundreds, if not thousands more, are expected to join in the coming weeks and months.

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