Finding Particles of Talc in Cancerous Tissue Could Strongly Influence Juries

Asbestos has been mostly cleaned up in the United States leaving talc as one of the few sources where one could be exposed

Monday, October 21, 2019 - If a person did not work in the construction material industry or an older government building or school, the chances are slim of running into asbestos today. This logic is more evidence that Johnson's Baby Powder talc is probably the cause of a person's mesothelioma when particles of asbestos are found in cancerous tissue. Particles of talc are being found in the plaintiffs' ovarian and lung tissue from using and inhaling Johnson's Baby Powder consistently throughout their entire life.

A 33-person study released the other day will surely make its way into the testimony of expert witnesses called on behalf of plaintiffs suing Johnson & Johnson for negligence in failing to warn customers of the cancer risks posed by asbestos in Johnson's Baby Powder. A Time magazine article cited a study were scientists concluded that it was likely that ingesting Johnson's Baby Powder talc was the probable cause of their mesothelioma. The study focuses on talc found in the cancerous ovaries and lung or stomach tissue as accumulating over the years and causing sufficient irritation leading to cancer. The credibility of one of the study's co-authors, Jacqueline Molin, professor of occupational medicine, epidemiology, and prevention at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, is being challenged because the defense claims her status as a paid witness taints her objectivity. According to the Time magazine article, Moline felt the study was important because it ruled out other causes of asbestos contamination and ruled in talc. Moline also said that very few people even today suspect that Johnson's Baby Powder contains the asbestos that caused their cancer.

The "Mesothelioma Associated with the Use of Cosmetic Talc" study examines the percentage of mesothelioma patients where particles of asbestos were found in their lungs. Lung tissue of 33 individuals was biopsied and asbestos fibers were targeted in the search and found particles of asbestos in 100% of the patients. The cosmetics industry has been left to police itself over the last 50 years as government agencies focused on food and drug safety. Targeting cancerous tissue to search for particles of talc could call into question the safety of not only Johnson's Baby Powder but also thousands of other talc-based cosmetics products. Talcum powder ovarian cancer attorneys have vast expertise handling product recalls and medical litigations and offer a free consultation.

Although irrefutably finding particles of talc in cancerous tissue is sure to benefits many plaintiffs, the strategy could have the opposite effect if asbestos cannot be found. As a result of this controversy, cancer doctors are being urged to ask their cancer patients about their lifetime usage of talcum powder.

Early studies that ignited the Johnson's Baby Powder litigation found particles of talc in the ovaries of 22 women who had died from ovarian cancer. Talc, like asbestos, is an organic mineral like a rock that can get trapped in human tissue and will not break down causing cancerous irritation. Experts think that the genital application of talc powder increases the risks of ovarian cancer in all women as particles of talc and asbestos can travel into the vagina, and into the ovaries through the Fallopian tubes causing oxidative stress and genetic mutations.