Healthcare
Welcome to our group, one dedicated to the healthcare professionals around our world, the support... View more
Organizer:
- Organized by
-
-
US Supreme Court rejects J&J’s appeal against $2.1 billion damages award
-
US Supreme Court rejects J&J’s appeal against $2.1 billion damages award
The US Supreme Court has rejected Johnson & Johnson’s appeal against a $2.1 billion damages award to women who claimed their ovarian cancer was a result of asbestos in the US pharmaceutical giant’s talcum powder.
The court’s decision not to hear the case means the earlier jury award, granted to 22 women in the US state of Missouri in 2018 after a class action lawsuit against J&J, still stands.
The case against Johnson & Johnsons is the largest in its history, with the claimants originally awarded $4.7 billion in damages from the company, before the amount was reduced on appeal. Nine of the plaintiffs have died from ovarian cancer since they first launched their legal action, their lawyers said.
Last year the company said it would no longer sell its famous Baby Powder in the US and Canada after a 60% decline in sales.
Lawyers acting for J&J argued that due process was not being followed by allowing several claims related to its Baby Powder to be heard before the same jury at once.
The company said in a statement to Bloomberg on Tuesday that the high court’s decision not to review the case “leaves unresolved significant legal questions that state and federal courts will continue to face.”
Johnson & Johnson has denied allegations its Baby Powder and Shower Shimmer Effects products contained asbestos and caused cancer.
Two conservative justices of the nine-member Supreme Court excused themselves from the case due to potential conflicts of interests.
-
1 Reply
-
Another great article Ami, I read that in November 2020 nearly 15% of talc-based cosmetic products analyzed in a recent study in America contained asbestos.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), an American advocacy nonprofit that commissioned the tests and did the analysis, stated methods used by the cosmetics industry to screen talc supplies are inadequate. The voluntary testing method developed by industry is not sensitive enough to screen for asbestos when compared to electron microscopy, the group said.
Many well-known brands use talc in body and facial powders that can be inhaled,” said Nneka Leiba, an EWG vice president. EWG’s online database has identified more than 2,000 personal care products that contain talc, including more than 1,000 loose or pressed powders that could pose an inhalation risk.
“It’s troubling to think how many Americans have been using talc-based cosmetics products potentially contaminated with asbestos,” Leiba said in an EWG news release last year. The analysis was published on November 25 2020 in the journal Environmental Health Insights.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not require testing talc supplies for the the worlds known carcinogen, asbestos! Even with the knowledge that talc forms naturally with asbestos with contaminates the talc during mining, and is impossible to separate the 2 minerals.
The Scientific Analytical Institute who conducted the tests, using electron microscopy to analyze samples.
“It is critical that the FDA develop a rigorous screening method for talc used in personal care products,” said Sean Fitzgerald, head of the Greensboro, N.C.-based institute. “The lab repeatedly finds asbestos in products made with talc, including cosmetics marketed to children. It’s outrageous that a precise method for testing personal care products for the presence of asbestos exists, but the cosmetics industry isn’t required to use it.”
Fitzgerald’s lab tested 21 samples of powder cosmetics, including eye shadow, foundation, blush, face and body powders.
Talc is often used in cosmetics as a filler or to improve texture or absorb moisture. Talc and asbestos can be formed in the same rocks that are mined for both cosmetics use and industrial use. The federal government does not require that cosmetics be tested for asbestos, instead encouraging companies to select talc mines carefully to avoid asbestos contamination, according to the study.
Log in to reply.