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Thousands of people are taking legal action against the US pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, claiming it knowingly sold baby powder containing asbestos-contaminated talc in the UK.
About 3,000 people have alleged that they or a family member developed forms of ovarian cancer or mesothelioma from using Johnson’s Baby Powder, and are seeking damages at the high court in London.
Lawyers for the group said Johnson & Johnson, along with its current and former subsidiaries Johnson & Johnson Management and Kenvue UK, should all be held liable, according to court documents filed on Thursday by KP Law. It estimates the claims amount to more than £1bn.
The lawyers said J&J “concealed” the risk to the public for decades. The company later replaced talc with corn starch but stopped making and selling talc-based baby powder in the UK and globally only in 2023, three years after it ended sales in the US and Canada.
J&J denies the allegations. A spokesperson for Kenvue, J&J’s former consumer health division that was spun off two years ago and has responsibility for talc-related claims outside the US and Canada, said the talc used in baby powder complied with regulations, did not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer.
Talc is a naturally occurring mineral that is mined from the ground.
Michael Rawlinson KC, for the group of people bringing the claim, said in court documents that “there exist very few, if any, commercially exploited talc deposits in the world which do not contain asbestos and that all of the mines supplying the defendants contained asbestos”.
He said reports from such mines, as well as the group’s own research alongside scientific literature, would have informed J&J about asbestos contamination. Despite this, the company “suppressed information that might indicate that baby powder was contaminated with asbestos”, Rawlinson added.
He said J&J “lobbied regulators” to enable the continued sale of its product and sponsored studies in an effort to “downplay the dangers” to human health. J&J therefore “acted in bad faith, to protect the reputation and profit-making potential of baby powder and the goodwill attached to their name”, Rawlinson said.
Mesothelioma, a form of cancer that according to the NHS is almost always caused by asbestos exposure, commonly forms in the lungs after people inhale the microscopic mineral fibres.
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Rawlinson said the method of application of the baby powder – squeezing or shaking the bottle – meant clouds of powder hung in the air “for a very long time after use” and were inhaled by the person using it.
Janet Fuschillo, 75, who is one of the people bringing the case, said she had used J&J’s baby powder since the 1960s and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer seven years ago.
She said: “I used talc on myself and all four of my children … It’s a source of great concern and anger that I used talc on my children.”
Patricia Angell said her husband, Edward, died in 2006 aged 64, a few weeks after being diagnosed with mesothelioma. She described him as a “perfectly fit, healthy man” who worked as an electrician and knew about asbestos.
She said: “When he fell ill the doctors asked him if he ever came into contact with asbestos and he told them he never had.
“He would come home from work and shower every day and use J&J’s talc … Talc was mentioned on Edward’s autopsy report, along with asbestos strains found in contaminated talc.”
She said her husband had been “robbed” of 19 years of life and her children robbed of a father.
Kenvue said: “We sympathise deeply with people living with cancer. We understand that they and their families want answers – that’s why the facts are so important.
“The safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder is backed by years of testing by independent and leading laboratories, universities and health authorities in the UK and around the world.
“The high-quality cosmetic grade talc that was used in Johnson’s Baby Powder was compliant with any required regulatory standards, did not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer.”
