Johnson & Johnson May Have Shirked Responsibility To Monitor Talc Safety

Johnson & Johnson may have known that the talc they used to make Johnson Baby Powder contained asbestos

Tuesday, October 27, 2020 - Instead of warning customers about the potential of their talc to cause cancer, Johnson & Johnson may have redirected their advertising towards African American women and other women of color, according to Reuters. Also, a recent article on a well-respected college web site likens how Johnson & Johnson has marketed Johnson's Baby Powder targeting African American and other women of color to committing an act of pre-meditated racism. The publication of Rutgers University quotes several articles published by Reuters a few years back, one of which is titled "Johnson & Johnson knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its Baby Powder," to make a case that executives at Johnson & Johnson knowingly targeted overweight African American women living in southern, humid climates within the United States with their baby powder and other product advertising. Young, impressionable girls were allegedly educated to think that using Johnson's Baby Powder on the peroneal region or their bodies after or in between showering would keep them feeling dry and fresh. "For years, women and, in particular, Black women across the country have trusted J&J talcum powder as a genital antiperspirant and deodorant. J&J has mounted millions in marketing to target the Black community and take their money for decades – even if that meant poisoning their ovaries with cancer," according to the Reuters publication. The Reuter's article goes on to claim that the women were unaware of what the company supposedly knew for decades; that Johnson's Baby Powder contained cancer-causing asbestos and particles of such were inclined to enter the vagina, travel up through the Fallopian tubes, and settle into the ovaries lodging there permanently and creating an irritation that could lead to cancer. Johnson & Johnson's propensity to put financial profits ahead of corporate ethics and responsibility is, however, starting to catch up with them. Talcum powder cancer attorneys representing families nationwide harmed from Johnson & Johnson talcum powder and developed ovarian cancer are offering a free consultation before filing a claim.

Johnson & Johnson is being sued by thousands of women of color and others claiming that executives at the company failed to warn them of what they knew or had the obligation to know about talc, the main ingredient in baby powder being asbestos-contaminated. Recent studies and tests also indicate that talc contains other elongated fibers that are equally hazardous to health. Johnson & Johnson had a responsibility to monitor the safety of their products as the cosmetics industry in the United States is self-policing and cosmetic beauty and baby care products do not have to be tested by the FDA before being offered for sale. For the last fifty years, the company was able to side-step efforts made by FDA scientists to force the cosmetics industry to enact stricter asbestos testing methods that could have found asbestos decades ago. Last month, the company settled a 1000-plaintiff ovarian cancer lawsuit for 100 million dollars rather than take the matter to trial, yet insisted afterward that their talc was safe, pure, and asbestos-free.