Talcum powder: Derry woman among thousands planning legal action over alleged links with cancer

A Derry woman is among thousands planning to take legal action against Johnson & Johnson over alleged links between its baby powder and cancer.

Sharon Doherty was diagnosed with ovarian cancer on the left side and fallopian cancer on the right side back in 2020.

Like thousands of other women, her cancer was linked to the use of talcum powder.

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“My mum would use the talcum powder on us all after a bath, and I continued to do so as I got older,” the 57-year-old said.

Despite having surgery and six months of chemotherapy, Ms Doherty was recently told her cancer has returned.

Lawyers claim Johnson & Johnson (J&J) “knew for decades” that there was allegedly asbestos present in its talc products, although the company maintains that its baby powder was safe and stressed that it “takes the issue of talc safety incredibly seriously”.

KP Law, which is leading the case, is representing about 2,000 people with another potential 4,000 clients having contacted the firm.

If the action goes ahead it is understood to be the first of its kind against the pharmaceutical giant in the UK.

A J&J spokesperson claimed that the company has won the “vast majority” of trials in the US or won them on appeal – it has faced tens of thousands of lawsuits there over the alleged links between its talc and cancer.

The company announced in August 2022 that it would stop making talc-based powder globally and would transition to using corn-starch.

It ceased selling its talc-based baby powder in the UK in 2023.

KP Law has issued a letter before action on behalf of its clients, giving J&J until the end of the year to respond before filing documents with the High Court.

Tom Longstaff, a partner at KP Law, said: “All of the claimants, predominantly women but also some men, who have sustained cancer after using J&J’s talcum powder products have experienced a life-changing illness.

“In some cases, they have died from their cancer, leaving their families devastated. All of these innocent individuals deserve justice.”

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.”

He also claimed the lawyers of groups of plaintiffs in the US are “actively pushing a false narrative about the history of talc and its alleged contamination to media globally” which “defies logic, rewrites history, and ignores the facts”.

Mr Longstaff said: “There are thousands of women in the UK who will have been diagnosed with cancers which have been identified as being linked to the use of talcum powder and may well have a case against J&J, along with a smaller proportion of men with regard to mesothelioma and peritoneal cancer.

“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, who have ended up paying the highest price imaginable for the sake of corporate greed.

“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.”

Mr Haas added that Kenvue, whose brands include Listerine and Neutrogena, is responsible for “any alleged talc liability that arises outside of the US or Canada” following its separation from J&J in 2023.