FDA Tests Found Asbestos In Johnson's Baby Powder And Recommended a Recall

The company has ceased selling the iconic brand of talcum powder worldwide and replaced it with cornstarch

Monday, May 8, 2023 - Johnson & Johnson is attempting for a second time to place its LTL management talcum powder liability spin-off into bankruptcy over the objections of the plaintiffs' MDL steering committee and a number of plaintiff lawyers. Lawyers are including all claimants, not just plaintiffs in their count of clients that will eventually file a talcum powder cancer lawsuit. Lawyers in favor of accepting the company's $9 billion settlement offers say that all "claimants" should be included in the plaintiff count, not just those who have officially filed a lawsuit. They say that most talcum powder lawyers control double or triple, or more their stated number of plaintiffs when all their talcum powder cancer clients are included and that the 75% threshold for accepting the settlement has been met. " Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) has agreed to pay $8.9 billion to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging that talc in its iconic Baby Powder and other products caused cancer, the company said. The amount dwarfs J&J's original offer of $2 billion," according to Reuters. The $9 billion amount is said to be too small a sum to pay even a small fraction of the medical expenses of plaintiffs being treated for ovarian cancer, not to mention punitive damages for Johnson & Johnson's reprehensible conduct. Johnson & Johnson has until May 14 to submit a restructuring plan to the bankruptcy court.

Johnson & Johnson’s re-filling attempt for bankruptcy protection will no doubt be reinforced by a media blitz this weekend on CNN's Anderson Cooper where the network will air programming about how unfairly the company has been treated and that their talc is safe, pure, and asbestos-free. According to KTBS.com, the programs will be titled, " J&J says years of testing confirm its talc is safe" and will feature Johnson & Johnson attorney Allison Brown who claims that "decades of testing confirm its talc baby powder contains no asbestos and does not cause cancer." Brown told CNN that "What we can say with 100% certainty is that we can not confirm the finding of asbestos in any product that has been sold and that decades of scientific testing and study have shown our talc is safe and does not cause cancer." All true, however, the statement fails to point out that tests by the US Food and Drug Administration did test bottles of Johnson's Baby Powder that were randomly purchased from store shelves, found asbestos, and immediately called for the product to be recalled. According to the FDA, " The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting consumers of a voluntary recall by Johnson & Johnson of Johnson's Baby Powder after FDA testing has found that a sample from one lot of the product contains chrysotile fibers, a type of asbestos." " FDA advises consumers to stop using affected products." It should be noted that in 2020, Johnson & Johnson spent approximately $2.6 billion on advertising in the United States across all media channels including TV, digital, print, radio, and outdoor advertising, according to Kantar Media.

Information provided by TalcumPowderCancerLawsuit.com, a website devoted to providing news about talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits, as well as medical research and findings.