Johnson & Johnson (J&J) talc users have appealed to reverse California’s federal judge's decision which favored the company by dismissing a class action lawsuit. It was one of those few wins for the company in the litigations over its talcum powder products.
The lawsuit alleged that J&J misled the consumers with fraudulent advertising of the baby powder and other talc-based products. The company marketed the products as “safe and pure” to gain consumers' trust and increase sales. Contrary to the company's marketing, the lawsuit claims that the products are unsafe and contain multiple hazardous substances like asbestos, lead, asilica, and arsenic.
In January 2020, the judge dismissed the lawsuit by stating that the plaintiffs do not have enough evidence to support the claims.
Plaintiffs filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals to review and reconsider the lawsuit. Following the appeal, the plaintiffs are required to present the necessary arguments of the case before the court by June 1.
Currently, J&J faces more than 20,000 individual talcum powder lawsuits from women throughout the United States. The lawsuits claim that the regular use of the products resulted in the development of ovarian cancer and other injuries.
All the talcum powder cases are centralized before Judge Freda L. Wolfson in the District of New Jersey, for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. Previously, J&J has been fined billions of dollars in the state court trials claiming that the company was aware that its products caused cancer.
