Johnson & Johnson to stop selling talc-based baby powder: Why was the popular product always embroiled in controversy?

The sweet-smelling talc-based baby powder by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and the advertisements featuring cute, little cherubic children will soon cease to be available internationally as the company has announced to stop selling one of its most popular products.

According to a report by Reuters, J&J will stop selling its talc-based baby powder globally in 2023, more than two years after it ended sales in the United States and Canada.

The talc-based powder was as popular as it was controversial for drawing thousands of consumer safety lawsuits.

“As part of a worldwide portfolio assessment, we have made the commercial decision to transition to an all cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio,” the company said in a statement. “As a result of this transition, talc-based Johnson’s baby powder will be discontinued globally in 2023.”

Controversies surrounding J&J’s talcum powder

Over the years, the healthcare firm has faced tens of thousands of lawsuits from consumers who alleged that its talc products caused them to develop cancer.

The Guardian reported that the company announced it was to stop selling the talc-based version in North America because of a fall in demand after what it said was “misinformation” about the product’s safety and legal challenges.

J&J later voluntarily recalled a batch of 33,000 bottles of talcum powder “out of an abundance of caution”. It was reported that US Food and Drug Administration regulators found trace amounts of asbestos, a known carcinogen, in the product.

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According to The Guardian’s report, J&J has continued to maintain that the talc-based baby powder did not cause cancer.

“Our position on the safety of our cosmetic talc remains unchanged,” the company said. “We stand firmly behind decades of independent scientific analysis by medical experts around the world that confirm that talc-based Johnson’s baby powder is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer.”

Consumers’ cancer claims against J&J

As per Reuters, the company faces about 38,000 lawsuits from consumers and their survivors claiming its talc products caused cancer due to contamination with asbestos.

In October, J&J created a subsidiary, LTL Management, assigned the talc claims to it and put the company into bankruptcy, pausing the legal actions, The Guardian reported.

Before the bankruptcy filing, the company faced costs from $3.5 billion in verdicts and settlements, including one in which 22 women were awarded a judgment of more than $2 billion.

As per Al Jazeera, a Missouri state jury in 2016 ordered J&J to pay $72m in damages to the family of a woman whose death from ovarian cancer was linked to her use of the company’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower feminine hygiene product for several decades.

Not long after, J&J was ordered to pay a woman $417 million who had claimed she developed terminal ovarian cancer after using the company’s talc-based products.

A Reuters investigation in 2018 found that J&J had known about the presence of small amounts of asbestos in its products from as early as 1971.

However, in response to media reports of evidence of asbestos in its products,in the courtroom and on Capitol Hill, J&J has repeatedly said its talc products are safe, and do not cause cancer.
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With inputs from agencies_

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