The Global Ripple From Talcum Powder Lawsuits
Countries worldwide have reacted in a variety of ways to the increased media attention Johnson & Johnson's baby powder lawsuits have been garnering in recent months.
Saturday, June 11, 2016 - With $127 million in damages to date, Johnson & Johnson has been taking a beating in the courts at the hand of plaintiffs filing talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits against the company. While many potential plaintiffs in the country have taken note and contributed to the more than 1,000 baby powder lawsuits currently pending against the health care giant, the international response to the wildly popular Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products has been significant in its own right.
The most recent development was a group of eight women in Canada that filed lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson's Canadian affiliate, claiming that the company's talcum powder products contributed to their contraction of ovarian cancer. The plaintiff group is made up of the estate of one deceased woman and seven living, all of whom claim that they contracted ovarian cancer from Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder products and should have been warned of the risks associated with the products by the company. Talcum powder attorneys representing the plaintiffs pointed to more than a dozen medical studies ranging decades of research that found correlations between talcum powder and ovarian cancer, and claims Johnson & Johnson must have intentionally ignored their duty to warn consumers of this information as it was too ubiquitous for them to remain ignorant.
Another result of the recent media coverage of Johnson & Johnson's baby powder lawsuits was a temporary ban imposed on the company's talcum powder products in Qatar. The country's government promptly cleared shelves all around the country in reaction to the massive $72 million award given to the estate of a deceased plaintiff who sued Johnson & Johnson over talcum powder in February. The country has since restocked Johnson & Johnson talcum products, but this example demonstrates how powerful the decisions regarding these talcum powder lawsuits can become.
The news also spurred an investigation into Johnson & Johnson facilities in India conducted by the country's food and drug administration. This action also took place in response to the February ruling. Many countries may not have had reason to question this popular hygienic product that had existed in the U.S. controversy free until the mounting medical research sparked the recent uptick in lawsuits. Now that fault is being ascribed to Johnson & Johnson in American courts, other countries are attempting to investigate whether the substance is truly harmful, and what blame the company may have for withholding that information from them and their country's Johnson & Johnson consumers.
The last interesting international baby powder ovarian cancer tidbit is that the first medical study into the topic was published in the The British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Before asbestos was even banned from talc products in America, the British had published a study linking talc exposure to ovarian cancer. The study investigated 13 cancerous tumors discovered in ovaries and discovered talc particles in 10 of them. While this research was primitive compared to the more comprehensive recent ones that have found as much as a 33 percent increase in ovarian cancer risk, it still demonstrates the global impact talcum powder has as a hygienic product, and could potentially have as a legal headache for Johnson & Johnson given the amount of potential plaintiffs the company has allegedly harmed.
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