Johnson & Johnson Loses Suit Over Claim Baby Powder May Cause Cancer - Newsy

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• published: 25 Feb 2016
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Baby powder is a common household item, especially for parents. But consumer goods giant Johnson & Johnson lost a multimillion-dollar suit that claims the company's talcum powder caused a woman's fatal ovarian cancer. A jury in the St. Louis Circuit Court awarded the family of Jacqueline Fox $10 million in actual damages and $62 million in punitive damages after finding the company failed to warn consumers that their baby powder could be carcinogenic. Before she died, Fox testified she used the talcum powder as a feminine hygiene product for decades. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2013 and died last year. So the case essentially boils down to two questions: Does talc cause cancer and, if it does, did Johnson & Johnson know about it? Johnson & Johnson denied any wrongdoing and issued a statement saying, "The recent U.S. verdict goes against decades of sound science proving the safety of talc as a cosmetic ingredient in multiple products." But the science isn't exactly definitive. A National Cancer Institute study said there was little support that linked talc to all types of ovarian cancer, but added "perineal talc use may modestly increase the risk of invasive serous ovarian cancer." The International Agency for Research on Cancer took it a step further and classified perineal talc use as "possibly carcinogenic." But the most damning evidence may have come from within the company itself. A memo from the company's medical consultant compared the risks of using hygienic talc to that of cigarettes. And that was evidently enough to convince the jury. One juror told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "They tried to cover up and influence the boards that regulate cosmetics. They could have at least put a warning label on the box but they didn’t. They did nothing." This could just be the tip of the iceberg for Johnson & Johnson. Fox was one of more than 1,000 women with similar lawsuits against the consumer goods manufacturer. The company is expected to appeal the ruling. This video includes clips from Johnson & Johnson and images from Getty Images and Austin Kirk / CC BY 2.0. Sources: Johnson & Johnson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exkVbE0mHuM Bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-23/j-j-ordered-to-pay-72-million-over-talc-tied-to-ovarian-cancer Getty Images http://www.gettyimages.com/license/51872343 Getty Images http://www.gettyimages.com/license/51872338 The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/24/johnson-johnson-ordered-to-pay-72m-in-suit-linking-talcum-powder-to-ovarian-cancer/ Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/aukirk/12795957403 Getty Images http://www.gettyimages.com/license/51872340 The Journal of the National Cancer Institute http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/92/3/249.full Johnson & Johnson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfbeoUwBvjw International Agency for Research on Cancer http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol93/mono93-8.pdf Videoblocks https://www.videoblocks.com/video/lit-cigarette-in-ashtray-2/ St. Louis Post-Dispatch http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/jury-orders-johnson-johnson-to-pay-million-in-talcum-powder/article_26e6046c-f97d-5a6d-a879-a97535dd78bc.html ------------------------------------- Newsy is your source for concise, unbiased video news and analysis covering the top stories from around the world. With persistent curiosity and no agenda, we strive to fuel meaningful conversations by highlighting multiple sides of every story. Newsy delivers the news and perspective you need without the hype and bias common to many news sources. See more at http://www.newsy.com/ Like Newsy on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/newsyvideos/