Johnson & Johnson will cease promoting talc-based child powder globally in 2023, the drugmaker stated on Thursday, greater than two years after it ended US gross sales of a product that drew 1000’s of client security lawsuits.
“As a part of a worldwide portfolio evaluation, we have now made the business determination to transition to an all cornstarch-based child powder portfolio,” it stated, including that cornstarch-based child powder is already offered in nations around the globe.
In 2020, J&J introduced that it will cease promoting its talc Child Powder in the US and Canada as a result of demand had fallen within the wake of what it known as “misinformation” concerning the product’s security amid a barrage of authorized challenges.
The corporate faces about 38,000 lawsuits from shoppers and their survivors claiming its talc merchandise induced most cancers as a consequence of contamination with asbestos, a recognized carcinogen.
J&J denies the allegations, saying a long time of scientific testing and regulatory approvals have proven its talc to be protected and asbestos-free. On Thursday, it reiterated the assertion because it introduced the discontinuation of the product.
The corporate spun off subsidiary LTL Administration in October, assigned its talc claims to it and instantly positioned it out of business, pausing the pending lawsuits.
Earlier than the chapter submitting, the corporate confronted prices from $3.5 billion in verdicts and settlements, together with one wherein 22 ladies have been awarded a judgment of greater than $2 billion, based on chapter courtroom information.
A 2018 Reuters investigation discovered that J&J knew for many years that asbestos, a carcinogen, was current in its talc merchandise. Inside firm information, trial testimony and different proof confirmed that from at the very least 1971 to the early 2000s, J&J’s uncooked talc and completed powders typically examined optimistic for small quantities of asbestos.
In response to proof of asbestos contamination introduced in media stories, within the courtroom room and on Capitol Hill, J&J has repeatedly stated its talc merchandise are protected, and don’t trigger most cancers.
