Chandigarh, May 22, 2020: Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday announced that it would stop selling its talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in the US and Canada, making the decision after a consumer products “portfolio reassessment related to COVID-19.”
J&J faces more than 16,000 lawsuits from consumers claiming its talc products, including Johnson’s Baby Powder, caused their cancer. The majority are pending before a U.S. district judge in New Jersey.
The lawsuits allege that the company’s talc products have been contaminated with asbestos, a known carcinogen. J&J said it “remains steadfastly confident in the safety of talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder,” citing “decades of scientific studies.”
In April, a New Jersey judge ruled that thousands of plaintiffs who allege that J&J’s talc products caused cancer can go forward with their claims, but face limits on what expert testimony will be allowed in trials.
J&J in December said its testing found no asbestos in its Baby Powder after tests conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration discovered trace amounts. The FDA’s test prompted J&J to recall of one lot of Johnson’s Baby Powder in October.