Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay 42 states a combined $700 million to settle lawsuits accusing it of deceptive practices in the selling of its talcum-based products. File Photo by Dan Peled/EPA
June 12 (UPI) — U.S. pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has agree to pay $700 million to settle lawsuits filed against the company over allegations of deceptively marketing and selling products that contained talcum powder, which has been linked to cancer.
The agreement resolves an investigation launched by 42 states in 2020 into J&J’s products that contained talcum power, which the company stopped distributing and selling in the United States that same year. It has since discontinued such products worldwide.
The states accused the company on deceptively advertising consumers about the safety and purity of its talcum powder products, such as Johnson’s Baby Powder and J&J’s Shower to Shower.
The lawsuit alleges that since the 1980s, J&J knew of studies and other supporting information that showed its talcum powders were sometimes tainted with carcinogenic asbestos and that women who used the products on their genitals had a increased risk of ovarian cancer.
Despite having this information, J&J continued to allegedly market the products “as safe, pure and gentle and as suitable for use in and or female genitals,” it said.
That agreement states that J&J admits to no wrongdoing but will pay the $700 million to the 42 states over the next three years while agreeing to permanently stop manufacturing, selling, promoting or distributing any products containing talcum power.
“Targeting communities with cosmetic products that contain dangerous substances is not just illegal, it is very cruel,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
The settlement, however, does not resolve the other talcum lawsuits the company is facing.
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company is facing lawsuits filed by 61,490 people, many of whom blame their ovarian cancer on the use of J&J’s talcum products.
Last month, J&J said it was taking steps to resolve a $6.5 billion settlement proposal to resolve that vast majority of the U.S. lawsuits.
