Large brand names tend to command loyalty and trust. People selecting products to use on their children and babies often purchase products from well-known and trusted companies, such as Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson has long been one of the best-known names in the health and beauty sector. However, simply being a household name does not necessarily make a brand trustworthy and safe.
Johnson & Johnson has faced a series of lawsuits in recent years alleging that contaminated talc powder caused serious cancers. People whose parents used talc powder in their diapers or undergarments when they were young may have an increased risk of reproductive cancers and possibly also mesothelioma as adults.
Some cancers can take years to develop
Many cases of cancer have relatively rapid timelines for onset. Other cancers take far longer to develop. Mesothelioma, the cancer with the strongest correlation with asbestos exposure, often takes decades to develop. Even those who have never had professional exposure to asbestos could develop mesothelioma, which is cancer of the organ linings, due to prior exposure through consumer products.
A jury recently awarded a mother in her 30s $65.5 million in a lawsuit brought because she developed mesothelioma in the lining of her lungs. The use of talc powder during her childhood was cited as the cause of her cancer. While Johnson & Johnson intends to appeal that case, not all of the company’s appeals in talc powder cases are successful.
Consumers sickened by unsafe products may have the option of filing a lawsuit to hold the manufacturer responsible. Reviewing medical records and historical talc powder use with a skilled legal team could help those with mesothelioma or reproductive cancers hold the companies that exposed them to carcinogens accountable.