On Tuesday, officials announced Johnson & Johnson will pay $700 million to 42 states, including Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, to resolve a lawsuit over misleading talc baby powder safety claims.
Officials said on Tuesday that Johnson & Johnson will pay $700 million to resolve a lawsuit brought by several states alleging the pharmaceutical giant purposefully misled consumers about the safety of its talc-based baby powder.
After thousands of lawsuits, J&J discontinued selling talc-containing products internationally in 2023, after more than a century of sales. The alliance of forty-three attorneys general concluded that Johnson & Johnson had concealed the possibility that the talc included asbestos, which is dangerous and can cause cancer.
These days, maize starch is used instead of talc to make most Johnson & Johnson baby powder. The settlement did not include an admission of wrongdoing by the company.
“We have reached a landmark settlement with Johnson & Johnson ensuring that the company will abide by the law and take effective steps to protect consumers from potentially hazardous ingredients,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement Tuesday. “I’m proud to lead this coalition of 43 attorneys general to stand up for consumers’ health and truth in marketing.”
The multistate lawsuit was spearheaded by the attorneys general of Texas, Florida, and North Carolina; the settlement agreement’s judicial approval is still pending.
Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington state, West Virginia, and Wisconsin joined the talcum powder lawsuit.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “This is a major advancement for consumer product safety.”
Johnson & Johnson faces slew of other lawsuits
In a series of lawsuits spanning years, J&J has settled to settle claims that its products caused serious and occasionally fatal illnesses. The sum was made public on Tuesday.
A Chicago jury granted the family of a woman who passed away from mesothelioma, a cancer connected to asbestos exposure, $45 million in April. The family of Theresa Garcia claimed that the fatal diagnosis was caused by her regular use of J&J’s talc-based products.
In a 2020 case, Johnson & Johnson was sentenced to pay $186 million to four plaintiffs who claimed that baby powder was the cause of their cancer in New Jersey.
Additionally, earlier this month, according to WTVR, a woman in Oregon who claimed she used J&J’s talc-based products to acquire mesothelioma was given $260 million in damages.
According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Johnson & Johnson is still facing tens of thousands of individual lawsuits alleging that consumers developed serious health conditions as a result of using products containing talc.
There is also a pending class action lawsuit accusing the corporation of misleading shareholders about the risks associated with talc products.
According to Reuters, Johnson & Johnson has attempted to settle the cases on multiple occasions by declaring bankruptcy and allocating up to $11 billion for prospective payments from a company it established to control its talc-related liabilities. However, the courts have not approved of such efforts.
“The Company continues to pursue several paths to achieve a comprehensive and final resolution of the talc litigation,” Erik Haas, Johnson & Johnson worldwide vice president of litigation, wrote in a statement Tuesday. “We will continue to address the claims of those who do not want to participate in our contemplated consensual bankruptcy resolution through litigation or settlement.”
Are talc-based products safe?
The Food and Drug Administration states that talc is a naturally occurring mineral used in cosmetics and personal care items like blush and baby powder. It is applied to a product to enhance its feel or to absorb moisture.
There is a chance of contamination if the material is discovered in mines that contain asbestos. The FDA cautions that asbestos inhalation has been connected to cancer. Since the 1970s, concerns regarding possible pollution have been voiced.
This asbestos-containing talc is “generally accepted as being able to cause cancer if it is inhaled,” according to the American Cancer Society. However, it’s unknown if talc free of asbestos causes cancer. According to the FDA, since the 1960s, investigations have raised the possibility of a link between talc-based powders used in the vaginal area and the occurrence of ovarian cancer; however, this link has not been proven.
Johnson & Johnson has disputed that asbestos is included in its baby powder.
Last year, GreatGameIndia reported that the company announced in a securities filing that J&J will pay $9 billion to talcum powder cancer victims.
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