An Arkansas man filed a lawsuit alleging that he was diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer as a direct result of exposure to asbestos in talcum powder.

The plaintiff, William A., says he used Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder in the 1950s, and used Mennen talcum powder from around 1960 to 1981. He was doubly exposed, he notes, due to his wife’s regular use of White Shoulders talcum powder from 1960 all the way to 2018.

According to his lawsuit, this consisted of regular and frequent exposure to asbestos in talcum powder, leading to asbestos fibers gathering in William’s lungs.

William’s asbestos exposure from talcum powder was exacerbated by his exposure to the dangerous substance in his occasional laborer work through the years.

Asbestos Lawsuits

William filed the lawsuit against a number of companies he alleges are responsible for his exposure to asbestos in talcum powder, including 3M Company, Johnson & Johnson, and others who he alleges manufactured or contributed to the manufacture of the relevant talcum powder products, or manufactured products containing asbestos that he worked with as a laborer.

William filed the asbestos in talcum powder lawsuit on Oct. 12, 2018, in the Superior Court of New Jersey. William filed his lawsuit on a whole slew of counts, including negligence, failure to warn, defective design, breach of express and implied warranties, and several others. William’s wife, Margie, also filed on one count of loss of consortium.

Thousands of lawsuits have been filed over cancer allegedly caused by talc-based baby powder products. Many lawsuits focus on ovarian cancer allegedly caused by baby powder, but others, like this one, allege that asbestos in talcum powder caused mesothelioma.

According to lawsuits, Johnson & Johnson avoided having the baby powder product tested for asbestos on purpose in order to avoid the financial losses that could occur if consumers were aware of the risk posed by asbestos in talcum powder.

Risk of Asbestos in Talcum Powder

Thousands of lawsuits have alleged that Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder can cause ovarian cancer, and now more are being filed alleging that asbestos in baby powder can cause mesothelioma cancer.

Indeed, research suggests that talc powder is often cross-contaminated with asbestos, a dangerous carcinogenic substance.

Asbestos is a mineral that was once widely used in commercial products like building and electrical insulation. Years ago, it was found that asbestos is actually a substance capable of causing cancer, or carcinogen. This led to a flurry of regulations being put in place to dramatically reduce the allowable uses for this hazardous material.

Exposure to asbestos is associated with a number of major health complications, including asbestos-induced mesothelioma and lung cancer.

Mesothelioma is a malignant disease, meaning that it can lie in wait for decades before symptoms appear. Because of this delay, patients are often diagnosed with mesothelioma in the disease’s later stages of development, when it has taken hold and become far more dangerous and less treatable.

Lawsuits allege that Johnson & Johnson failed to give adequate warning about the link between talc and asbestos fibers in its baby powder products, and even misrepresented the safety of the products in its advertising.

William’s Asbestos in Talcum Powder Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-14949, filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey.