A baby powder and ovarian cancer lawsuit has been filed by a man who lost his wife to the disease.

Plaintiff Malcolm B. alleges his deceased wife Judy B. used Johnson’s Baby Powder on her genitalia from approximately January 1980 through the beginning of March 2016.

His baby powder and ovarian cancer lawsuit joins an MDL that names Johnson & Johnson, Imerys Talc America, inc., and Personal Care Products Council as defendants.

Imerys Talc mined the talc used in Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products, including Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower. The Personal Care Products Council is a national trade association that represents the personal care and cosmetics industry and has influenced the regulation and marketing of talc-based body powders.

Baby Powder and Ovarian Cancer Linked Years Ago

As far back as 1971, researchers in Wales found talc particles embedded in ovarian and cervical tumors of women who had dusted their genitalia with talcum powders. Tiny talc crystals theoretically creep up the genitourinary tract and into the peritoneal cavity. The ovaries are open-ended in the peritoneal cavity, allowing the talc crystals to settle inside them and induce irritation.

Eleven years later, Dr. Daniel W. Cramer compared 215 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer with a control group of 215 healthy women. Dr. Cramer determined that women who used talcum powder on their bodies were nearly twice as likely to develop ovarian cancer. Those who used talcum powder on their genitals and on feminine napkins appeared to be at more than three times the non-users’ risk.

Since Dr. Cramer’s study was published, at least 27 other epidemiologic studies have provided data linking baby powder and ovarian cancer.

A case-control study in 1992 determined “an 80 percent increased risk of ovarian cancer in women with more than 10,000 lifetime perineal applications of talc, demonstrating a positive dose-response relationship,” indicates the baby powder and ovarian cancer complaint.

Over the years, Johnson & Johnson advertised and marketed Johnson’s Baby Powder as “a symbol of ‘freshness’ and ‘comfort,’ eliminating friction on the skin, absorbing ‘excess wetness’ to keep skin feeling dry and comfortable, and ‘clinically proven gentle and mild,’” says the baby powder and ovarian cancer lawsuit.

Johnsons’ Baby Powder had a label during the relevant time that targeted women with the words, “for you, use every day to help feel soft, fresh, and comfortable.”

Dr. Cramer came back in 1999 with a new case-control study. He observed 563 women newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 523 women in a control group. The study indicated a 60 percent increased risk of ovarian cancer in the talc powder users and an 80 percent increased risk on those who tallied more than 10,000 lifetime applications.

The Baby Powder and Ovarian Cancer Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-08531-FLW-LHG and is part of the Johnson & Johnson MDL, In re: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Products Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2738 (FLW) (LHG) in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.