New Baby Powder Lawsuit Filed in Southern Florida

The son of a woman who died of ovarian cancer after using talcum powder for more than 40 years has filed a talcum powder lawsuit on her behalf.

Sunday, October 23, 2016 - A woman who used talcum powder products as a feminine hygiene tool is now the subject of a Johnson & Johnson's baby powder lawsuit brought by her son against the health care company. The claim is filed on behalf of Holly Anderson by her son Scott Dawson, who claims that Johnson & Johnson was aware of the cancer causing characteristics of their popular cosmetic and did nothing to warn consumers. Talcum powder lawyers representing Mr. Dawson on behalf of his mother also included a number of medical studies backing up their claim in the lawsuit and filed the suit before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

In the talcum powder lawsuit, the plaintiff is described as having used Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products for more than 40 years and claims that she contracted ovarian cancer as a direct result of this action. The plaintiff had never been alerted to the fact that a number of studies had found a correlation between ovarian cancer and talcum powder, nor that despite this there were safe alternatives to using talc-based powder that could have support female genital hygiene. Instead, the marketing of the Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products encouraged their daily use in the same way that the substance was being found to increase the risk of ovarian cancer.

The medical studies looking into the connection between talcum powder and ovarian cancer have been around since the first one was conducted in 1971. Since then, more than a dozen studies have discovered a link between talcum powder and an increased risk in contracting ovarian cancer. Some studies put the increased risk as high as 35 percent above women who do not used talcum powder as a genital hygienic.

In addition to the medical studies that have been conducted, talcum powder attorneys for the plaintiffs have also included internal documents that were discovered proving that there had been internal Johnson & Johnson correspondence where the discussion of the relationship between talcum powder and ovarian cancer was present. Employees within the companies warned of future consequences if the company continued to market their talcum powder products free of acknowledging the results coming out of the growing medical studies being conducted on the matter.

This internal correspondence runs against Johnson & Johnson's claims that talcum powder is not connected to ovarian cancer. The health care company claims that it has its own research demonstrating no observable link between the two, but the mounting evidence supporting the plaintiff's claim has been enough to sway two juries already to 2016 to find Johnson & Johnson guilty of charges brought against the company in similar claims. The plaintiffs in those two talcum powder cancer trials were awarded a combined $127 million in damages.

The talcum powder lawsuit filed on behalf of Holly Anderson will proceed before the U.S. District Court for the District of Southern Florida, though it could eventually join an MDL that was created for federal talcum powder cancer litigation on October 4th.

Information provided by TalcumPowderCancerLawsuit.com, a website devoted to providing news about talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits, as well as medical research and findings.