Using talcum powder to ‘deodorise’ my genitals gave me ovarian most cancers, claims girl, 44 – as a whole lot launch authorized battle with Johnson & Johnson over hyperlinks to illness
Hundreds of British women are planning to take on one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical firms over claims talcum powder gave them ovarian cancer.
Nearly 2,000 cancer patients, survivors and their families are expected to sign up to a class action against Johnson & Johnson.
It would mark the first legal suit the company has faced on the issue in the UK and the biggest pharmaceutical group action in English and Welsh legal history.
It follows thousands of similar claims in the US which have led Johnson & Johnson to pay out billions of dollars already in compensation.
Lawyers for the UK claimants say talcum powder was contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos, something they allege the company knew and tried to suppress.
But Johnson & Johnson has denied the allegations, instead claiming ‘they defy logic, rewrite history and ignore the facts’.
Linda Jones, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last November, is among the women launching the class action.
Now, doctors have told the 66-year-old she may only have a few years left to live.
In 2020, Sharon Doherty, 57, who lives in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, was also diagnosed with ovarian cancer on the left side, and fallopian cancer on the right side
Linda Jones, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last November, is among the women launching the class action
Nearly 2,000 cancer patients, survivors and their families are expected to sign up to a class action against Johnson & Johnson
The company director from North Devon, said: ‘My mother used it on me when I was a baby in the 50s, and I kept using it for years after.
‘We just trusted what the adverts said and believed it was a good product.
‘When I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it never occurred to me that it could have been as a result of asbestos exposure, until I started reading about the legal action in America. Suddenly, it all made a lot of sense.
‘My children will lose their mother, I may never even meet my first grandchild, and my husband and I have been robbed of our retirement together after just six years of marriage.
She added: ‘If there was any suggestion whatsoever that the talcum powder would cause harm to not only women, but small babies, it should have been taken off the market.
‘It makes you wonder how many other women who have already died may have been exposed.’
Talc powder was popular for decades for its ability to keep skin dry and to help avoid rashes, being used on both adults and babies.
But the powder, made from a naturally occurring mineral, can also contain small amounts of asbestos according to some studies — a carcinogen known to cause cancers when repeatedly inhaled.
Cassandra Wardle, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021, is among the women launching the class action
The 47-year-old from Alfreton in Derbyshire, said talcum powder was used on her as a baby and she continued to use it ‘for 20 years or more’
Once asbestos fibers enter the body, they can lodge in soft tissue permanently, causing severe cellular damage and inflammation — which may lead to cancer.
Earlier this year in July, the World Health Organization also concluded that mineral talc itself was ‘probably carcinogenic for humans’.
Cassandra Wardle, from Alfreton in Derbyshire, is another woman taking part in the action.
She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2022 at the age of just 44.
Mrs Wardle said talcum powder was used on her as a baby and as an adult she would regularly use talcum powder after a bath or as a deodoriser, including across her genitals.
‘It’s just what people did. Johnson and Johnson talcum powder was in every home and was a trusted brand,’ she added.
‘I am grateful to still be here, but I am also incredibly angry.
‘I want to know why Johnson & Johnson didn’t change the ingredients of the talcum powder when they knew that it was dangerous.
Johnson & Johnson discontinued mineral-based talc in the UK last year after stopping sales in the US in 2020
‘Why did they carry on selling it, putting so many thousands of lives at risk? What they have done is nothing short of despicable.’
Meanwhile, Sharon Doherty who lives in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, was also diagnosed with ovarian cancer on the left side in 2020, and fallopian cancer on the right side.
The 57-year-old said: ‘My mum would use the talcum powder on us all after a bath, and I continued to do so as I got older.’
Despite having surgery and six months of chemotherapy, Ms Doherty was recently told her cancer has returned.
She is awaiting further NHS treatment, which she hopes will start in the coming weeks.
Johnson & Johnson discontinued mineral-based talc in the UK last year after stopping sales in the US in 2020.
At the time they said this was due to financial pressures and a ‘misinformation campaign’ around the product.
In the US, the firm has been sued by more than 62,000 people and at least $13bn has been paid out or set aside in response to the action.
Germ cell tumours are a rare form of the disease that develops in the ovaries, the female organs that produce eggs. It is often called a ‘silent killer’, as symptoms don’t present until late stages of the disease.
However, several cases have since been overturned on appeal.
In the past few decades, small studies have pointed to a link between talc and ovarian cancer, but some have been criticised for ‘recall bias’ because they asked women with ovarian cancer to remember if they had ever used talc.
Tom Longstaff, a partner at KP Law — which is representing the claimants in this fresh action — said: ‘This once-trusted corporation knew for decades that the asbestos in its talc products was present, that it was dangerous, but did nothing to notify consumers of the risk.
‘We are committed to helping as many people as possible achieve justice in the UK for the actions of profit-hungry executives in US boardrooms.’
But Erik Haas, worldwide vice president of litigation at Johnson & Johnson, said the company ‘takes the issue of talc safety incredibly seriously and always has’.
He added: ‘As our documents show, we have relied upon the most state-of-the-art testing protocols for decades and have been entirely transparent with government institutions and academic researchers regarding our findings.
‘Those findings uniformly show the absence of asbestos contamination in Johnson’s Baby Powder and the talc sourced for Johnson’s Baby Powder.
‘Independent science makes clear that talc is not associated with the risk of ovarian cancer nor mesothelioma.’
Mr Haas also claimed Johnson & Johnson had won — or won on appeal — the ‘vast majority’ of trials in the US.
The case is expected to take between four and five years, and some women are concerned they might not live to see the conclusion.
Ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the UK. The disease kills around 11 women every day in Britain, on average, or 4,000 a year.
It also kills three times as many women in the US every year, figures show.
It is often diagnosed late because symptoms are vague and can include indigestion, pelvic or abdominal pain, loss of appetite, constipation, and needing to urinate more often.
Around 93 per cent of women diagnosed live five years or more if it’s spotted at the earliest stage, compared with just 13 per cent diagnosed at stage four.
About a fifth of women with ovarian cancer are also diagnosed in A&E, often when it is too late for any treatment.
