Johnson & Johnson, which faces a barrage of legal challenges over its talc-based baby powder, confirmed last week that it would stop selling global sales of the product in 2023, more than two years after it ended US sales of the product that has drawn thousands of consumer safety lawsuits.
The company faces about 38 000 lawsuits from consumers and their survivors, claiming its baby powder caused cancer due to contamination with asbestos, a known carcinogen, reports Reuters.
In 2020, the company had announced it would stop selling its baby powder in the US and Canada because demand had fallen in the wake of what it called “misinformation” about the product’s safety amid thousands of legal challenges.
However, although J&J denies the allegations, saying decades of scientific testing and regulatory approvals have shown its talc to be safe and asbestos-free, it has since switched to cornstarch-based powder, saying: “As part of a worldwide portfolio assessment, we have made the commercial decision to transition to an all cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio,” adding that cornstarch-based baby powder is already sold in countries around the world.
“After decades of selling talc-based products the company knew could cause deadly cancers to unsuspecting women and men around the world, J&J has finally done the right thing,” said Leigh O’Dell, a lawyer for former talc users. “They stopped sales in North America more than two years ago. The delay in taking this step is inexcusable.”
Daily Maverick reports that J&J said on Thursday that its “position on the safety of our cosmetic talc remains unchanged”.
J&J spun off subsidiary LTL Management in October, assigned its talc claims to it and immediately placed it into bankruptcy, pausing the pending lawsuits. Those suing have said J&J should have to defend itself against the lawsuits, while defendants of J&J and the bankrupt subsidiary process say it is an equitable way to compensate claimants.
Ben Whiting, an attorney with the plaintiffs' firm, Keller Postman, said because the lawsuits are paused in bankruptcy, the company’s sales decision won’t immediately affect them. But if a federal appellate court allows the cases to move forward, the consumers could try to use Johnson & Johnson’s decision to pull the products as evidence, he said.
“If these cases were to go again, then it’s a very big deal,” he added.
Before the bankruptcy filing, the company faced costs from $3.5bn in verdicts and settlements, including one in which 22 women were awarded a judgment of more than $2bn.
A shareholder proposal calling for an end to global sales of the talc baby powder failed in April.
A 2018 Reuters investigation found that J&J knew for decades that asbestos, a carcinogen, was present in its talc products. Internal company records, trial testimony and other evidence showed that from at least 1971 to the early 2000s, J&J’s raw talc and finished powders sometimes tested positive for small amounts of asbestos.
In response to evidence of asbestos contamination presented in media reports, and in the courtroom, J&J has repeatedly said its talc products are safe, and do not cause cancer.
Sold since 1894, Johnson’s Baby Powder became a symbol of the company’s family-friendly image. An internal J&J marketing presentation from 1999 refers to the baby products division, with Baby Powder at the core, as J&J’s “#1 Asset”, Reuters reports, although the baby powder accounted for only about 0.5% of its US consumer health business when the company pulled it off the shelves.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
J&J stops selling its iconic talc baby powder in North America
J&J receives subpoenas related to asbestos contamination litigation
A win for J&J over asbestos contamination in talc causing cancer