Plaintiff Carolyn H. has lodged a talc lawsuit against manufacturer Johnson & Johnson for allegedly failing to warn consumers about the potentially serious risks of using Johnson’s baby powder and Shower to Shower talc based products.

The use of these talc based products in the genital and perineal area has allegedly been linked to the development of ovarian cancer and other dangerous side effects.

Carolyn is not the first person to file a talc lawsuit, as many women have developed serious cancer diagnoses after years of using these talc products on a daily basis.

The talc lawsuit says that the defendant, Johnson and Johnson, marketed and advertised their Shower to Shower product as safe for use by women and as an effective tool for “freshness.” Carolyn says in her talc lawsuit that between January 1952 through July 2015, she used the talc products manufactured by Johnson & Johnson for feminine hygiene purposes, and suffered the consequences.

Carolyn says she was living in the state of California when she first began to use the talc products. She alleges she used them for over 40 years, through 2015. In February 2009 however, according to the paperwork filed in the talc lawsuit, the plaintiff was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She was 64 years old at the time.

Talc Powder Risks

The first study documenting the connection between the perineal use of baby powder and the development of ovarian cancer was published in 1971. Further studies were published since then, including more than 28 medical studies indicating that there is an association between ovarian cancer and the use of talcum powder.

Carolyn’s talc lawsuit says that the manufacturer knew about the risks or should have known about the dangers and should have warned women who were using the product on a daily basis about the possibility of developing cancer down the line.

Many women who purchased this product did so because of the marketing slogans used by the company and allege that the manufacturer led them to develop significant side effects, including in some cases, terminal diagnoses of ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is extremely difficult to detect and also has a low survival rate, putting those patients who have been diagnosed with it at a significant disadvantage. Many of the women who have developed ovarian cancer after years of using a Johnson & Johnson baby powder product have come forward to file a talc lawsuit, naming the manufacturer as liable for the injuries and cancer related symptoms they have developed.

A class action investigation is currently looking for those women who may have grounds to file a talc lawsuit as a result of the injuries they developed while using these baby powder products over the course of many years.

While the manufacturer of the talc products claims that the baby powder products in their line are safe for everyday use, the number of talc lawsuits linked to a diagnosis of ovarian cancer indicates there could be a connection between cancer risk and long-term use of talc powder.

The Talc Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-CV-01515-RC, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.