More than 9,000 talcum powder cancer lawsuits have been filed against Johnson & Johnson, which already has been ordered to pay billions of dollars in settlements and verdicts.

Women suffering from ovarian cancer and both men and women struggling to survive with mesothelioma allege their diseases are the result of exposure to talc particles from Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower body powder.

A trial that pits plaintiffs with mesothelioma against Johnson & Johnson began recently in California’s Alameda County, where many asbestos-related lawsuits have been tried.

Mesothelioma is a specific type of cancer that attacks the lining of an organ. The lining of the lungs is often vulnerable to mesothelioma, which is almost always linked to asbestos exposure. When tiny asbestos fibers are inhaled, they burrow deep into the tissue that lines the lungs. It can take up to 50 years for that lung irritation to manifest symptoms and develop into mesothelioma.

Both talc and asbestos are mined from the earth and found within close proximity to one another. A report from Reuters published in December 2018 accuses Johnson & Johnson of knowing its talcum powders were tainted with asbestos but keeping secret the lab tests that showed the evidence.

Ovaries Allegedly Vulnerable to Talcum Powder Cancer

Researchers suspected a link between talc and ovarian cancer as far back as 1971 when cancerous ovarian tumors were found to contain talc particles.

Johnson & Johnson promoted its talcum powders specifically to women for many years. Through print advertisements, television commercials and radio advertising, women were bombarded with the message that feminine odor could be controlled by using Johnson’s Baby Powder or Shower to Shower in their genital area. Shower to Shower even was promoted as a treatment to reduce irritation after a bikini wax.

In the summer of 2018, Johnson & Johnson faced a $4.6 billion talcum powder cancer verdict from a St. Louis jury that found the talc products caused ovarian cancer in women who relied on the promised safety of the powders for years. That jury purportedly was the first to view internal Johnson & Johnson communication that indicated the company knew asbestos tainted its talc.

Emboldened by this new revelation that Johnson & Johnson allegedly knew the talc contained even microscopic amounts of asbestos, talcum powder users who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma are filing lawsuits.

Mesothelioma patients who never worked in environments known for a high risk of asbestos exposure – shipyard work, auto mechanic, construction work – but used Johnson’s talcum powders for decades – now feel they have an idea how they contracted the rare form of cancer.

According to the Reuters report, one of the oldest indications that Johnson & Johnson was aware of the presence of asbestos in its talc came from a lab report in the mid-1950s. The lab allegedly identified tremolite, a finely fibrous variety of industrial asbestos, was among the contaminants in a supply of Johnson & Johnson talc from Italy.

Mesothelioma could be a type of talcum powder cancer that is a risk in addition to ovarian cancer if talc is indeed tainted with asbestos. According to the World Health Organization, no safe level of asbestos exposure exists.