In recent years, JNJ has been inundated with personal injury lawsuits linking the use of its talc based Baby Powder to cancer, including thousands filed by women who used the product and later developed ovarian cancer.1 As of July 2021, over 25,000 such lawsuits remained outstanding.2 The costs of litigation have been high: over the past five years, JNJ spent almost $1 billion on defense and another $3.5 billion on verdicts and settlements.3 In October 2021 JNJ found its ongoing defense costs to be "unsustainable" and created an affiliate to carry its talc claims into chapter 11 bankruptcy, an extraordinary step derided by plaintiffs, advocates, and government officials.4
The use of talc in personal care products is a public health concern because talc is prone to asbestos contamination. Talc is found in underground deposits that often contain veins of asbestos; when talc is mined, cross contamination can easily occur.5
According to OSHA, there is no "safe" level of exposure to asbestos,6 a known carcinogen.7 The National Cancer Institute states that asbestos can cause cancers of the ovary, lung, and larynx in addition to mesothelioma.8 In 2021, Health Canada concluded that perineal use of talc-based products is associated with ovarian cancer.9
Despite knowing for decades that talc was prone to asbestos contamination, JNJ continued to use talc in its Baby Powder and heavily market it to women.10 Around the time that JNJ's talc supplier started including a label on its talc that it was "possibly carcinogenic," JNJ touted its talc-based Baby Powder as being "fresh and natural" and launched a marketing campaign targeting Black women and overweight women.11
In October 2019, the FDA discovered trace levels of asbestos in samples of JNJ's talc-based Baby Powder purchased from an online retailer, prompting JNJ to recall thousands of bottles and advise consumers to "stop using it immediately."12 Less than a year later, JNJ discontinued the sale of its talc-based Baby Powder in the United States and Canada, citing depressed demand.13
JNJ remains vulnerable to further erosion of its reputation as a trusted purveyor of health-related products by continuing to sell and market its talc-based Baby Powder to the rest of the world outside of the US and Canada. The continuance of sales has heightened criticism from women's rights and racial equity groups as well as public health advocates.14 Over 170 nonprofit groups led by Black Women for Wellness have called on JNJ to halt the sale of its talc-based Baby Powder globally to protect women and marginalized communities across the globe.15 It is time for shareholders to do the same.