Concerns over Johnson & Johnson baby powder safety have led pharmacy chain CVS to pull the product from its store shelves.

This decision comes after the FDA reported the discovery of trace amounts of asbestos in bottles of the product. Johnson & Johnson responded with a voluntary recall of one lot of Johnson’s Baby Powder.

As of Oct. 24, Johnson’s Baby Powder is no longer be available at the nation’s largest pharmacy chain. Walmart and Rite Aid have taken similar action.

Is Baby Powder Safety a Problem?

Facing more than 15,000 lawsuits from plaintiffs claiming that talc in its products caused cancer, health care products giant Johnson & Johnson has long claimed that Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower present consumers with no significant risk of asbestos exposure.

However, FDA testing of a sample revealed small amounts of chrysotile, a form of asbestos that was commonly used in building construction and industry during much of the 20th century. This news comes at a time when J&J has already been hit with a number of multi-million dollar judgments in litigation over the past three years.

More Evidence

The credibility of J&J’s claims of baby powder safety claims has been further strained over revelations contained in a Reuters report published in December. According to that report, company executives and scientists knew about asbestos contamination of its talc as far back as the late 1950s, and went to great lengths to hide that information from consumers and regulators.

Plaintiffs recently got more ammunition in their legal battles against J&J with the publication of a research study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Scientists reportedly discovered additional evidence associating asbestos contamination in talc with a rare form of cancer known as mesothelioma. Asbestos is one of only two known causes of this disease, accounting for 80 percent of all cases. The remaining 20 percent of cases are attributable to radiation exposure.

How Did Asbestos Get Into Talc?

Like asbestos, talc is a silicate mineral. Because the two materials are formed by similar geologic processes, it is not uncommon to find asbestos in nature near talc deposits. Indeed, asbestos lung cancer and asbestosis (a form of fibrosis of the lung) is considered an occupational hazard for talc miners.

Last year, J&J’s talc supplier, Imerys, settled a lawsuit brought by 22 women in Missouri for $5 million. In that same case, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $4.7 billion.

“Abundance of Caution”

When Johnson & Johnson decided to recall the affected lot of baby powder, a company spokesperson stated that the company was acting “out of an abundance of caution.” This echoes a similar statement from a CVS spokesperson, who told Bloomberg, “We took this step as a matter of precaution and to prevent customer confusion.”

Despite Johnson & Johnson’s protestations, it appears that baby powder safety will continue to be an issue in talc litigation going forward as evidence in favor of plaintiff’s claims continues to mount.