Johnson & Johnson faces legal action over alleged cancer link

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.

- Julia Kollewe

As many as 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 yesterday by KP Law.

They said J&J concealed the risk to the public for decades. The company later replaced talc with corn starch but did not stop making and selling talc-based baby powder in the UK and globally until 2023, three years after it ended sales in the US and Canada.

J&J denies the allegations. A spokesperson for Kenvue, the former J&J 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.