Two women’s deaths due to ovarian cancer have been linked to the use of Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder—yes, the same powder that has been sprinkled over the bottoms of babies for more than 100 years. In cases of baby girls, the dangerous talc seeps into their vaginas. For decades, girls and women have used baby powder in their undergarments and under their arms for “cleanliness and to reduce odor.” Even with the reported dangers, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) considers baby powder to be a “cosmetic,” and therefore does not regulate the product.
This is one of those stories that has my fingers shaking and my stomach turning as I type. This cancer-causing product is still being promoted and used on infants, babies, and toddlers. Even with the known dangers, J&J continues to put out the product and the FDA continues to allow it.
Here are two recent cases where the courts ruled in favor of the victims due a corporation’s “negligence, conspiracy, and failure to warn women of the potential risk of using Baby Powder in the genital area.”
The first case is reported by Susan Berfield, Jef Feeley, and Margaret Cronin Fisk of Bloomberg, and the victim’s name was Jacqueline Fox. Ms. Fox, 59, lived in Birmingham, Alabama, where she raised one son and two foster children while working in restaurants, school cafeterias, and as a house cleaner to support her family. She was healthy for the most part, but in 2013 her life changed. The first sign that something was wrong came from Jaqueline Fox’s pet dog, Dexter.
In the spring of 2013, her poodle, Dexter, began acting strangely. He’d jump on her, he’d cry, he’d stay close by all day. Fox happened to watch a television program about a dog that sensed its owner was unwell. When she let Dexter sniff her, he whined even more.
A week later, Fox was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. She had chemotherapy to shrink the tumors and surgery to remove her uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, and part of her spleen and colon. In December of that year, she saw a commercial from an Alabama law firm, Beasley Allen, suggesting a connection between long-term use of Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder and ovarian cancer. Fox had been sprinkling Baby Powder made from talc on her underwear every day since she was a teen. “I was raised up on it,” she later said in a deposition. “They [It] was to help you stay fresh and clean. … ”
Fox’s son, Marvin Salter, from Jacksonville, Florida, said he and his mother were skeptical about the possibility of baby powder causing the ovarian cancer.
“It has to be safe. It’s put on babies. It’s been around forever. Why haven’t we heard about any ill effects?”
Jaqueline Fox died from ovarian cancer in October 2015.
Four months later, a jury in St. Louis concluded that talcum powder contributed to the development of the disease and that Johnson & Johnson was liable for negligence, conspiracy, and failure to warn women of the potential risk of using Baby Powder in the genital area. The verdict, decided by a 10-2 vote, included $10 million in compensatory damages and $62 million in punitive damages, more than Fox’s lawyers had recommended. Salter bowed his head and wept.
Bloomberg also reports that 45 years ago, a British researcher analyzed 13 ovarian tumors found in women and discovered talc “deeply embedded” in 10 of the cases.
The study, published in 1971, was the first to raise the possibility that talcum powder could pose a risk. In 1982 a study in the journal Cancer by Daniel Cramer, an epidemiologist at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, showed the first statistical link between genital talc use and ovarian cancer. Soon after, Cramer received a call from Bruce Semple, an executive at J&J. The two met in Boston. “Dr. Semple spent his time trying to convince me that talc use was a harmless habit, while I spent my time trying to persuade him to consider the possibility that my study could be correct and that women should be advised of this potential risk of talc,” Cramer, a paid expert and witness for the plaintiffs, said in a 2011 court filing. “I don’t think this was a question of money,” he says now. “I think it was pride of ownership. Baby Powder is a signature product for J&J.”
“Pride of ownership” and baby powder being a “signature product for J&J” is the reason nothing was done? No. This was about money. Any American consumer can figure out the crime of Johnson&Johnson’s negligence is about money.
The second lawsuit against J&J and their baby powder product just handed down a verdict on May 2, 2016. Rob McLean with KMBC reports:
A jury in St. Louis awarded $55 million in damages to Gloria Ristesund, who used Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder for more than 35 years before being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2011.
Ristesund's lawyers argued that Johnson & Johnson knew of possible health risks associated with talc, but failed to warn consumers.
"Internal documents from J & J show it knew of studies connecting talc use and ovarian cancer but, to this day, it continues to market it as safe -- neglecting any warning," The Onder Law Firm, which represented Ristesund, said in a statement.
Johnson & Johnson plans to appeal the second verdict, reports Reuters, but the company faces approximately 1,200 more lawsuits as of this date, charging J&J did not adequately warn consumers about the cancer risks aligned with their products.
These are not the first lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson, whose Facebook logo states “For every little wonder.”
Johnson & Johnson has spent more than $5 billion to resolve legal claims over its drugs and medical devices since 2013. That year, it agreed to pay $2.2 billion to settle criminal and civil probes into claims that it illegally marketed Risperdal, an antipsychotic drug, to children and the elderly; two other medicines were included in the settlement. It was one of the largest health fraud penalties in U.S. history. The company has also agreed to pay some $2.8 billion to resolve lawsuits about its artificial hips and $120 million for faulty vaginal-mesh inserts. In its 2015 annual report, J&J stated that more than 75,000 people had filed product liability claims, and that didn’t include the talc powder cases.
In efforts to warn consumers about the Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder and other products sold by the company, we need more stories, more outrage, and more national discourse. Please share this information and other news about the dangers of this product, on your personal social networks (Facebook, Twitter, email...). You may help to save lives as well as bring about awareness.
The FDA is considering changing its laws/requirements to better regulate cosmetics and feminine products. How nice of the FDA, that they should suddenly care about women’s safety. Once again, it is women that suffer at the hands of greedy mega corporations and an apathetic government agency.
My fingers are still shaking. The outrage is off the charts and I can only hope others will feel the same.