Ever since the first baby powder cancer lawsuit went to trial in October 2013, many other women have accused Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder products of causing them to suffer similar injuries.

Women have alleged in baby powder cancer lawsuitsthat they developed ovarian cancer after applying either Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder or Shower-to-Shower powder on their genital area, and that the company had failed to warn them of this risk.

New research from major medical groups in the United States and abroad are offering new details about the possible link between baby powder and cancer.

The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund is one of the organizations that supports this claim, stating that women who use talcum powder are much more likely to develop ovarian cancer. The most recent peer-reviewed study on the talcum powder ovarian cancer connection was published in the medical journal Cancer Prevention Research.

The study was titled “Genital Powder Use and Risk of Ovarian Cancer,” which concluded that women who used talcum powder on their genital area had a higher chance of developing ovarian cancer. The researchers found that when the powder was used in the subject’s genital area, it increased the production of cells that caused epithelial ovarian cancer.

Several other medical groups and studies have also supported this hypothesis including the Organic Consumers Association and the Cancer Prevention Coalition, which increased the legal support of the consumers who filed baby powder cancer lawsuits.

Previously, the Cancer Prevention Coalition launched a campaign to have Johnson & Johnson update their talcum powder products’ labels to include ovarian cancer in 1994.

At that time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, denied a Citizen Petition that also called for talc products to feature ovarian cancer as a possible risk.

In 2013, Dr. Samuel Epstein, head of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, wrote in a book entitled “Criminal Indifference of the FDA to Cancer Prevention,” criticizing the FDA for remaining allegedly indifferent to the dangers talcum powder presented to women.

Currently, Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder products offer no warning or indication of ovarian cancer, or any precautionary warning against applying the product on a woman’s genital area.

Overview of Talcum Powder Ovarian Cancer Link

In general, medical experts estimate that women who use talcum powder face a 24 percent increased risk of ovarian cancer. This is alarming considering that it is estimated that nearly 40 percent of all American women use talcum powder.

In 2014, the American Cancer Society estimated that approximately 21,980 patients will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and that 14,270 women will die in the same year from that condition. While it is unknown how many of these cases were linked with talcum powder, experts predict that many of these women were users.

For generations, women used talcum powder as a personal hygienic product for their body. Experts explain that when talcum powder is applied to the genital area, the particles enter the woman’s body and travel up through her fallopian tubes.

Once inside, the particles can settle inside a women’s uterus and have been said to stay there up to eight years. These particles can allegedly cause ovarian cancer to develop. This process has been compared to how asbestos particles cause mesothelioma to occur in a patient’s lungs.

Regardless of the cause, it does not change the fact that many women have been injured and are seeking compensation. Johnson & Johnson are currently facing a number of potential baby powder lawsuits, alleging that the product causes ovarian cancer.