New research linking the application of talc powder to the genitals and ovarian cancer could be a challenge to Johnson & Johnson as the company attempts to settle thousands of lawsuits filed by women diagnosed with the disease after using J&J products that may have contained asbestos.
The study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology looked for associations between the use of intimate care products – including genital talc – and breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer. The researchers found a positive association between those products and ovarian cancer but not the other two diseases.
J&J has long maintained that its talc contains no asbestos and is safe.
The researchers from the National Institutes of Health enrolled more than 50,000 women. They chose the participants because they all had a sister with breast cancer, making them more likely to be diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer.
Study Backs Expert Testimony Against J&J
The news comes just a few weeks after J&J announced it is offering a $6.5 billion settlement to resolve most of the talc cancer lawsuits against the company.
“This study is quite timely,” Leigh O’Dell, co-lead counsel for a group of lawyers representing people with cancer and their families suing J&J. “We feel like it completely affirms and confirms the position taken by plaintiffs’ experts.”
Leigh O’Dell
Since the late 1990s, those who used J&J baby powder and similar products have filed lawsuits against the company before their diagnosis. Some of these individuals had ovarian cancer, while others developed mesothelioma, a rare and lethal type of cancer that forms in the membrane between the chest wall and the lungs. Juries have awarded multimillion-dollar verdicts in some cases.
J&J’s proposed settlement would only cover ovarian cancer claimants. The company says nearly all the mesothelioma lawsuits have been resolved, and it will deal with the remaining cases outside of subsidiary LTL Management’s reorganization plan.
But the settlement with people with ovarian cancer isn’t a done deal yet. It can only happen if 75% of the claimants approve it. A leading asbestos firm says each victim would only receive an average payout of $43,000 – and that’s before liens and attorney fees.
Talc: A Ticking Time Bomb
The NIH study is hardly the first to show an association between talcum powder use and cancer. In fact, for more than 20 years, researchers have been unearthing evidence that talc can be deadly.
Talc is a mined mineral that coexists underground with asbestos, a known carcinogen. The two materials are often intertwined; even the best efforts to separate them can fail.
No level of asbestos exposure is safe for humans, even the trace amounts sometimes found in cosmetics and body powder containing talc. However, investigations have shown that J&J and other talc companies have been aware for decades that their products were laced with asbestos.
It remains to be seen whether the latest study affirming the dangers lurking in seemingly innocent products like baby powder will swing the outcome in favor of people living with cancer and their families seeking damages in court against companies such as J&J.
