A woman and her husband have filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson alleging that the company failed to disclose baby powder cancer risks that ultimately led to her cancer diagnosis.

Plaintiff Christina B. is a 44-year-old woman who claims that she suffered injury to herself, economic loss, loss of services and loss of consortium as a result of the behavior of baby powder manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. as well as talc supplier Imerys Talc America  and industry organization Personal Care Products Council.

According to the baby powder cancer risks lawsuit, Christina began using talcum powder around 1983 and continued to use it until approximately May 2014. In April 2014, Christina was diagnosed with the talcum powder product injury after having used Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder and Shower to Shower products.

Christina and her husband, Robert, have brought forth a number of allegations against the defendants including strict liability for failure to warn, defective manufacture and design, breaches of express and implied warranties, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, fraudulent concealment, violation of Ohio Consumer Protection Laws, civil conspiracy, loss of consortium, punitive damages and discovery rule and tolling.

Christina and Robert are seeking relief in judgment against the defendants for compensatory damages, punitive damages, interest, costs of suit and any such further relief deemed equitable and just by the court. They are seeking a trial by jury.

The Baby Powder Cancer Risks Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-04832, and is part of the Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder MDL, MDL No. 2738, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Baby Powder Cancer Risks Hidden By Johnson & Johnson, Lawsuits Claim

A total of 415 lawsuits are currently pending within the Johnson & Johnson MDL with allegations that the company hid baby powder cancer risks despite knowing of them for decades. In addition to these lawsuits in federal court, many other lawsuits are currently pending in state court as well with similar allegations.

Baby powder lawsuits like Christina’s state that Johnson & Johnson knew that its talcum powder products posed increased cancer risks to consumers, but placed profits over people when it continually chose to conceal these baby powder cancer risks from the public.

The plaintiffs state that as far back as the 1970s, it was found that an association existed between talcum powder use and ovarian cancer. Theoretically, genital talcum powder use by women for feminine hygiene purposes was the catalyst behind the development of ovarian cancer. When women dust their perineal area as part of their beauty routine, the talc particles from the powder can in turn the woman’s body and migrate up to the ovaries where it can cause cellular changes leading to cancer.

Despite two dozen research articles suggesting an association between talcum powder use and baby powder cancer risks, the lawsuits state that Johnson & Johnson ignored the research and chose not to inform consumers that the products they were using could potentially cause cancer.

Several lawsuits have already gone to trial, and some have led to substantial judgments in favor of the plaintiffs. The juries in these lawsuits have found Johnson & Johnson and its related companies responsible for the ovarian cancer diagnoses in the plaintiffs, and it is anticipated that as more trials are completed, similar outcomes may follow.