New Racially-Focused Talcum Powder Lawsuit Study

A new study related to claims made in Johnson & Johnson's baby powder lawsuits found that African American women are more likely to contract ovarian cancer as a result of using talcum powder than women of the same race who did not use the substance.

Thursday, June 2, 2016 - A recent study reported by Reuters Health found that women of African American descent are at a higher risk of contracting ovarian cancer as a result of their talcum powder use compared to African Americans who did not use the powder. The study, which was published in the medical journal Cancer Epidemiology on May 12, found that African American women who used talcum powder regularly on their genitals were 40 percent more likely to contract ovarian cancer. Those who used it but in non-genital areas were 30 percent more likely to contract ovarian cancer. Both of these numbers are new highs compared to most ovarian cancer studies thus far. To date, the talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits for the most part have focused on studies that at most put the increased risk of ovarian cancer at 33 percent, and that was for genital-specific use.

Johnson & Johnson's baby powder lawsuits have waded into the topic of race before. Internal memos discovered by talcum powder cancer lawyers detailed plans laid out by representatives of the health care giant to market their talcum powder products more aggressively to African American and Hispanic women. This prompted widespread anger as other internal documents unearthed by talcum powder attorneys revealed that the company at that time was already aware of the detrimental consequences talcum powder could have on a woman's health because of a medically researched link to ovarian cancer. A number of major news stories, including one published in Time Magazine, criticized the company for intentionally marketing a cancerous product to minority women in the interest of generating profits.

The May study from Cancer Epidemiology was conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and made a point of focusing exclusively on African American women, a segment of the population which it claimed is oftentimes underrepresented in epidemiological research. Joellen Schildkraut, the principal investigator for the study, was an admitted skeptic of the claims made in talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits that labelled the product as a carcinogen until her research turned out to fall in line with those allegations.

The study included more than 1,300 African American women, 584 of whom had ovarian cancer and 745 that did not. 63 percent of the women who suffered from ovarian cancer claimed they were regular users of talcum powder products, while only 53 percent of those who did not suffer from the disease reported to use the product on a regular basis. Schildkraut claims that the large group study not only lends credence to the growing medical consensus that talcum powder lawsuit claims are based on the reality of a baby powder ovarian powder connection, but that African American women are especially at risk because of their high risk of contracting the disease and their marketed targeting by Johnson & Johnson.

There are currently more than 1,000 talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits pending around the country, with two of them already netting multi-million dollar settlements for the plaintiffs in trials. The filing of the lawsuits recently spread to Canada, and there has been international focus on the proceedings as Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder is one of the company's staples and is available worldwide.

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