A Mississippi woman has filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson citing ovarian cancer caused by talcum powder.

Plaintiff Patty M. says she has been using Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder since her birth. She has regularly used it on her genital area for many years. When she was forty-one, in 2007, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Patty believes her ovarian cancer caused by talcum powder was as a result of knowledge that Johnson & Johnson withheld from the public. She also believes that Johnson & Johnson aggressively marketed their products while knowing they could be unsafe to the people who used it.

The plaintiff alleges that her ovarian cancer caused by talcum powder occurred “as a direct and proximate result of the Defendants’ calculated and reprehensible conduct.”

She has had to undergo surgeries and treatments because of her ovarian cancer caused by talcum powder, she says.

Patty has filed this talcum powder lawsuit on several counts: violation of the DC Consumer Protection Procedures, negligence or wantonness, defective manufacture and design, failure to warn, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, fraudulent concealment, breaches of express and implied warranties and civil conspiracy.

Ovarian Cancer Caused by Talcum Powder

For many years, ovarian cancer caused by talcum powder has been a concern among researchers, and more recently, among consumers.

Talcum powder, or baby powder as it has been branded by Johnson & Johnson, is made from a naturally occurring mineral that is mined from the earth. For many years, according to this lawsuit, Johnson & Johnson advertised their product to women as something that could be used daily on their genital area to aid in “freshness” and “comfort.”

Johnson & Johnson, Patty claims, also “compelled women through advertisements to dust themselves with this product to mask odor.” This has been Johnson & Johnson’s marketing angle for years, this lawsuit claims.

However, from as far back as 1971, researchers knew that ovarian cancer caused by talcum powder was a possibility. The initial study, performed in Wales, suggested an association between ovarian cancer and talc powder.

A decade later, in 1982, another study was performed that discovered a 92% increased risk of ovarian cancer in women who regularly used talcum powder on their genital area. At that time, the ovarian cancer lawsuit alleges, researchers in charge of this study informed Johnson & Johnson of the risks and suggested they place a warning label on their product.

Since 1982, more than twenty-seven more studies have been performed looking at ovarian cancer caused by talcum powder. Additionally, the United States National Toxicology Program found talc powder to be a carcinogen in 1993.

Other organizations have deemed talc powder as “safe” over the years. However, according to Patty, these organizations, including the Talc Interested Party Task Force and Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association, have been funded by talc powder industrial interests.

A more recent study performed in 2013 by Cancer Prevention Research found that women who use talcum powder regularly have a 20 to 30 percent increased risk of developing ovarian cancer caused by talcum powder.

This Talcum Powder Lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-cv-01399, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.