Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, along with other companies, has been hit with lawsuits alleging baby powder can cause cancer.

Recent studies that have fueled these worries, including a 2013 study published in Cancer Prevention Research, linking the product to an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer.

Can Baby Powder Really Cause Cancer?

Many of us grew up with baby powder around the home. It’s a product commonly used to absorb moisture and prevent chaffing. When the product is used on children, it can prevent diaper rash. Adults use baby powder for various reasons as well.

The potential for cancer concern lies with one of the two different baby powder formulations. One of these formulations has a cornstarch base, and it is not involved in these allegations.

The other formulation is based on talc, which is sometimes called talcum powder. Talc-based products, which includes some baby powder products, have been associated with risks due to its silica base.

Another silica-based mineral, asbestos, is also associated with an increased risk of cancer. Baby powder lawsuits allege that talc-based powders can cause cancer or other dangerous side effects, similar to how asbestos-containing products can cause such issues.

Baby Powder Cancer Lawsuits

Allegations of this link between talc-based baby powders and cancer, namely ovarian cancer, have been cause for serious concern among women who have used this kind of product.

Baby powder lawsuits reference studies showing a substantial connection between talc-based baby powder products and ovarian cancer.

Plaintiffs involved in these lawsuits claim that this evidence should be cause for action, and further allege that the product manufacturers should be held accountable for failing to adequately warn about the cancer risk associated with their product.

Baby Powder Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer and similar or related cancers are the fifth leading cause of cancer fatalities in U.S. women, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Because there are few early symptoms of ovarian cancer, this disease is usually not discovered until much later, in the last stages of the cancer. Once a patient has progressed into the later stages of cancer, it is much more difficult to fight.

This delay in discovery causes the fatality rate of ovarian cancer to soar, given that treatment is so much less effective in later stages. The most common type of ovarian cancer is epithelial ovarian cancer, and its early symptoms are largely unnoticeable.

The 2013 study in the June edition of Cancer Prevention Research was referenced in baby powder cancer lawsuits. The Cancer Prevention Research study showed that for women who used talc-based baby powders in the genital area, their risk of epithelial ovarian cancer increases by between 20 percent and 30 percent.

Plaintiffs claim that adequate knowledge of these potentially serious risks would have prevented them from using the product, and therefore would have allowed them to avoid ovarian cancer.

If you or someone you know has used Johnson’s Baby Powder or a similar powder product containing talc and have since been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, you may be able to file a baby powder cancer lawsuit.