Indian health officials are demanding a detailed list of the ingredients used in Johnson & Johnson's Baby Powder and other talc-based products due to concerns over the alleged carcinogenic asbestos presence in their products. India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) sent out an email on July 19, requesting J&J to reveal the talcum powder contents.
Though in a March 2016 review, CDSOC cleared the company's products of asbestos presence during an inspection of a J&J manufacturing plant in Mumbai, the concerns sour high following a recent $4.7 billion verdict in a talcum trial in Missouri linked to ovarian cancer claims by 22 women.
Currently, there are two separate allegations against J&J, one regarding asbestos presence in their talc-based products causing ovarian cancer in women using it for personal hygiene purpose and the other linked to asbestos exposure causing mesothelioma, a fatal lung cancer. However, J&J continues to deny that their talcum products contain cancer-causing asbestos in them and plans to appeal all the jury verdicts against them.
