Talcum Powder Class Action Lawsuit Filed in Canada

Published on May 27, 2016 by Sandy Liebhard

Johnson & Johnson continues to face mounting lawsuits over the alleged link between its talcum powder products and ovarian cancer. According to a report from CTV New, a class action was recently filed in Toronto, Ontario on behalf of Canadian women who allegedly developed the disease due to their long-term use of the company’s talc-based products for feminine hygiene.

Plaintiffs involved in the new talcum powder lawsuit include the family of a 66-year-old Quebec woman who died in March from ovarian cancer. A number of women and family members living in Ontario and Quebec are also involved.

“What I find most troubling about this case is that Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder has been known as a safe product that was made to be used on a daily use – that’s how it was promoted,” one of the plaintiff’s attorneys told CTVNews.ca. “And now they have been horribly deceived.”

The attorney asserted that Johnson & Johnson should have warned consumers decades ago about the alleged link between talc powder and ovarian cancer, and that doing so would have “easily prevented many, many cases” of cancer. He went on to claim that Johnson & Johnson placed profits over safety in failing to provide such a warning.

U.S. Talcum Powder Litigation

In the U.S., Johnson & Johnson faces more than 1,200 talcum powder lawsuits that put forth similar ovarian cancer allegations. In February, a jury in St. Louis, Missouri ordered the company to pay $72 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the family of a woman who died from the disease last year. According to the lawsuit, the decedent had used the company’s Baby Powder and Shower-to-Shower products for decades as part of her daily feminine hygiene routine.

In April, a second St. Louis jury awarded $55 million in damages in another talcum powder ovarian cancer case involving Johnson & Johnson.

Court documents indicate that more trials will soon get underway in the U.S., including a third Missouri case that is set to begin in June. The first of more than 200 talcum powder lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson in New Jersey’s Atlantic County Superior Court will go before a jury in October.