TRENTON, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson has been hit with a
multimillion-dollar jury verdict for the fourth time over whether the
talc in its iconic baby powder causes ovarian cancer when applied
regularly for feminine hygiene.
Late Thursday, a St. Louis jury awarded $110.5 million to Lois Slemp,
62, of Wise, Virginia, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012.
She blames her illness on her use of the company's talcum
powder-containing products for more than 40 years.
Besides Slemp's case, three other jury trials in St. Louis reached
similar outcomes last year, awarding the plaintiffs $72 million, $70.1
million and $55 million, for a combined total of $307.6 million. The
company says its product is safe, and it plans to appeal the latest
verdict, as it has the other three.
Johnson & Johnson also has had some legal victories, including in
March when a St. Louis jury rejected the claims of a Tennessee woman
with ovarian and uterine cancer. Also, two cases in New Jersey were
thrown out by a judge who said the plaintiffs' lawyers hadn't presented
reliable evidence that talc leads to ovarian cancer.
The next baby powder trial is in June in St. Louis, and will be followed by another in July in California.
WHAT DO INVESTORS THINK?
Investors don't seem worried that J&J is in financial trouble, even
though the company faces an estimated 2,000 similar lawsuits. J&J
shares fell 62 cents to $123.10 in late-afternoon trading Friday.
Johnson & Johnson, the world's biggest maker of health care
products, brings in about $72 billion a year selling prescription drugs,
medical devices, diagnostic equipment and consumer products ranging
from baby shampoo and Aveeno skin care items to Tylenol pain reliever
and Band-Aids.
Because of its size and diversified product lines, J&J is sued
frequently and investors don't panic when it loses product liability
lawsuits, so its stock price rarely drops much after losses. Also, the
company clearly intends to keep fighting lawsuits alleging its iconic
baby powder isn't safe, rather than settling suits at this point.
WHAT IS TALC?
Talc is a mineral that is mined from deposits around the world,
including the U.S. The softest of minerals, it's crushed into a white
powder. It's been widely used in cosmetics and other personal care
products to absorb moisture since at least 1894, when Johnson &
Johnson's Baby Powder was launched. But it's mainly used in a variety of
other products, including paint and plastics.
DOES IT CAUSE OVARIAN CANCER?
Like many questions in science, there's no definitive answer. Finding
the cause of cancer is difficult. It would be unethical to do the best
kind of study, asking a group of women to use talcum powder on their
genitals and wait to see if it causes cancer, while comparing them to a
group who didn't use it.
While ovarian cancer is often fatal, it's relatively rare. It accounts
for only about 22,400 of the 1.7 million new cases of cancer expected to
be diagnosed in the United States this year.
Factors that are known to increase a women's risk of ovarian cancer
include age, obesity, use of estrogen therapy after menopause, not
having any children, certain genetic mutations and personal or family
history of breast or ovarian cancer.
WHAT RESEARCH SHOWS
The biggest studies have found no link between talcum powder applied to
the genitals and ovarian cancer. But about two dozen smaller studies
over three decades have mostly found a modest connection — a 20 percent
to 40 percent increased risk among talc users.
However, that doesn't mean talc causes cancer. Several factors make
that unlikely, and there's no proof talc, which doesn't interact with
chemicals or cells, can travel up the reproductive tract, enter the
ovaries and then trigger cancer.
One large study published in June 2016 that followed 51,000 sisters of
breast cancer patients found genital talc users had a reduced risk of
ovarian cancer, 27 percent lower than in nonusers. An analysis of two
huge, long-running U.S. studies, the Women's Health Initiative and the
Nurses' Health Study, showed no increased risk of ovarian cancer in talc
users.
WHAT EXPERTS SAY
If there were a true link, Dr. Hal C. Lawrence III says large studies
that tracked women's health for years would have verified results of the
smaller ones.
"Lord knows, with the amount of powder that's been applied to babies'
bottoms, we would've seen something," if talc caused cancer, said
Lawrence, vice president of the American College of Obstetrics and
Gynecology.
The National Cancer Institute's Dr. Nicolas Wentzensen says the federal
agency's position is that there's not a clear connection.
"It is very hard to establish causal relationships," he said, adding,
"A lot of ovarian cancers occur in women who have never used talc, and
many women have used talc and not gotten ovarian cancer."
On its website the American Cancer Society states: "The risk for any
individual woman, if there is one, is probably very small."
AP
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