Canadian class-action launched over babypowder

TORONTO • A Canadian class-action lawsuit has been filed against Johnson & Johnson over an alleged link between its baby powder products and ovarian cancer in adult women who used the product for long periods of time. The suit’s plaintiffs include seven women and family members living in Ontario and Quebec, and the estate of a Montreal woman who died of ovarian cancer in March at age 66.

The suit alleges Johnson & Johnson was “negligent in the development, testing, design, manufacturing, licensing, distribution, marketing and sale of Johnson’s Baby Powder.”

The accusations in the statement of claim have not been proven in court. Johnson & Johnson Canada said that it sympathized with the women and their families, but defended its baby powder. “The talc in our baby powder has a long history of safe and gentle use,” the company said in a statement.

Johnson & Johnson also faces litigation in the U.S..

The class-action suit follows a jury decision in Missouri that awarded US$72 million to the family of a woman who died of ovarian cancer after using Johnson & Johnson feminine hygiene products for years that contained its talcum powder.

This month, another U.S. jury ordered the firm to pay US$55 million in damages to a woman who claimed her ovarian cancer was caused by long-term use of Johnson’s baby powder.

The class-action suit alleges that J&J knew about the dangers but “failed to disclose these defects and the resulting risks to the health and life of the plaintiffs” and failed to recall the product in Canada.