Johnson & Johnson to stop selling talc-based baby powder in US and Canada

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday introduced that it will cease promoting its talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder within the United States and Canada, making the choice after a shopper merchandise “portfolio reassessment related to COVID-19.”

The U.S. healthcare conglomerate stated it will wind down gross sales of the product, which makes up about 0.5% of its U.S. shopper well being enterprise, within the coming months, however that retailers will proceed to promote present stock.

J&J faces greater than 16,000 lawsuits from shoppers claiming its talc merchandise, together with Johnson’s Baby Powder, brought on their most cancers. The majority are pending earlier than a U.S. district choose in New Jersey.

The lawsuits allege that the corporate’s talc merchandise have been contaminated with asbestos, a identified carcinogen. J&J stated it “remains steadfastly confident in the safety of talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder,” citing “decades of scientific studies.”

In April, a New Jersey choose dominated that hundreds of plaintiffs who allege that J&J’s talc merchandise brought on most cancers can go ahead with their claims, however face limits on what skilled testimony can be allowed in trials.

J&J in December stated its testing discovered no asbestos in its Baby Powder after exams performed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found hint quantities. The FDA’s test prompted J&J to recall of 1 lot of Johnson’s Baby Powder in October.

“Demand for talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in North America has been declining due in large part to changes in consumer habits and fueled by misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage of litigation advertising,” J&J stated in an announcement.

J&J has identified for many years that asbestos lurked in its talc, Reuters reported late in 2018. Internal firm information, trial testimony and different proof present that from at the least 1971 to the early 2000s, the corporate’s uncooked talc and completed powders generally examined positive for small quantities of asbestos.

J&J has repeatedly stated that its talc merchandise are protected, and that many years of research have proven them to be asbestos-free and that they don’t trigger most cancers.

J&J stated it’s going to proceed to promote cornstarch-based child powder in North America, and that it’ll promote each its talc- and cornstarch-based merchandise in different markets all over the world.