A new settlement regarding Johnson & Johnson baby powder would give Delaware $4.9 million. Wikimedia Commons photo.
Delaware will receive $4.9 million in a $700 million nationwide settlement that aims to resolve allegations related to the marketing of Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder and body powder products that contain talc.
“All of the funds we receive will be placed in the State’s Consumer Protection Fund,” the Delaware Department of Justice said.
Under the consent judgment with attorneys general representing 43 states, Johnson & Johnson:
Has ceased the manufacturing, marketing, promotion, sale, and distribution of all baby and body powder products and cosmetic powder products that contain talcum powder, including Johnson’s Baby Powder and Johnson & Johnson’s Shower to Shower in the United States.
Shall permanently stop making, marketing, promoting, and distributing any covered products in the United States either directly, or indirectly through any third party.
Baby powder over the years
“Johnson & Johnson sold such products for over a hundred years,” a release from Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said.
“After the coalition of states began investigating, the company stopped distributing and selling these products in the United States and more recently ended global sales. While this lawsuit targeted the deceptive marketing of these products, numerous other lawsuits filed by private plaintiffs in class actions raised allegations that talc causes serious health issues including mesothelioma and ovarian cancer.”
The release wasn’t that blunt, but a 2018 Reuters investigation cited more than 11,000 plaintiffs alleging the powder was contaminated by asbestos, a known carcinogen. Reuters said the contamination was known as early as 1957.
In 2018, a jury of 22 awarded women $550 million in compensatory damages and more than $4 billion in punitive damages in a suit contending that the power led to ovarian cancer, Healthline reported.
In 2022, J&J announced transitioning to cornstarch for baby powders. “Our position on the safety of our cosmetic talc remains unchanged,” the company said at the time. “We stand firmly behind the decades of independent scientific analysis by medical experts around the world that confirms talc-based Johnson’s baby powder is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer.”
