A lawsuit alleging the plaintiff developed ovarian cancer from talcum powder use began last week in California.

Eva E. testified via videotape that she developed terminal cancer after 50 years of daily use of talcum powder on her genital area. She said she began using Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder and Shower to Shower body powder when she began menstruation at age 11. Some days, she would apply the powder to her genitalia several times a day.

Eva claims she didn’t know she was increasing her risk of developing ovarian cancer from talcum powder. She began reading the labels on the bottles when she was a teenager and noted there was never a warning that the substance could be harmful to her health.

Eva continued to use the powder even after she received her 2007 cancer diagnosis. She stopped using baby powder after she saw a television commercial that discussed women developing ovarian cancer from talcum powder.

“I stopped using it because I saw something on TV about a woman who died as a result of ovarian cancer and she had been using Johnson & Johnson baby powder,” said Eva. “I thought, I use Johnson & Johnson baby powder and I’ve been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and I’m still using it.”

Eva expressed the cancer causes her such intense pain that she is unable to sleep due to the pain in her liver and kidneys. During the day, she battles fatigue, headaches, nausea, and a loss of balance.

Johnson & Johnson Denies Ovarian Cancer from Talcum Powder

Eva’s lawsuit alleges Johnson & Johnson knew talc was dangerous to the female genital area, but neglected to warn users of its talcum powder products because the company was more concerned with its own image than it was with consumers’ safety.

Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay more than $300 million because of verdicts against the company in other lawsuits. The company was declared not liable in one trial.

Eva is the first plaintiff among hundreds to go to trial in a complex consolidation of litigation in California. Eva filed her lawsuit with six other women alleging ovarian cancer from talcum powder in July 2016 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Ovarian Cancer from Talcum Powder Alleged for Years

In 1971, researchers in Wales found talc particles embedded in ovarian and cervical tumors. Talc crystals possibly creep up the genitourinary tract and into the peritoneal cavity. The ovaries are open-ended in the peritoneal cavity, and the talc crystals theoretically settle inside and cause irritation.

Harvard professor Dr. Daniel W. Cramer compared 215 women with ovarian cancer with 215 healthy women who were considered the control group in 1982. He found that women who used talcum powder were nearly twice at risk for having ovarian cancer. Women who used talcum powder on their genitals and on feminine napkins were more than three times at risk.

Attorneys for Johnson & Johnson deny any studies link ovarian cancer from talcum powder.

The Ovarian Cancer from Talcum Powder Lawsuit is Case No. BC6283228 and the coordinated proceeding is Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Cases, Case No. JCCP4872, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.