As hundreds file a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson over connections to the disease, a 44-year-old woman says that using talcum powder to “deodorize” her genitalia caused her to develop ovarian cancer.
It would be the largest pharmaceutical group action in English and Welsh legal history as well as the first lawsuit the corporation has ever faced on the matter in the UK.
It comes after Johnson & Johnson has already paid out billions of dollars in compensation for hundreds of identical claims in the US.
According to the UK plaintiffs’ attorneys, the firm knew that talcum powder contained asbestos, which causes cancer, and attempted to hide this information.
However, Johnson & Johnson has refuted the accusations, saying that “they ignore the facts, rewrite history, and defy logic.”
One of the women initiating the class action is Linda Jones, who received an ovarian cancer diagnosis in November.
The 66-year-old may only have a few years left to live, according to physicians.
The company director from North Devon said: ‘My mother used it on me when I was a baby in the 50s, and I kept using it for years after.
‘We just trusted what the adverts said and believed it was a good product.
‘When I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it never occurred to me that it could have been as a result of asbestos exposure until I started reading about the legal action in America. Suddenly, it all made a lot of sense.
‘My children will lose their mother, I may never even meet my first grandchild, and my husband and I have been robbed of our retirement together after just six years of marriage.
She added: ‘If there was any suggestion whatsoever that the talcum powder would cause harm to not only women but small babies, it should have been taken off the market.
‘It makes you wonder how many other women who have already died may have been exposed.’
Talc powder was popular for decades for its ability to keep skin dry and to help avoid rashes, being used on both adults and babies.
But the powder, made from a naturally occurring mineral, can also contain small amounts of asbestos according to some studies — a carcinogen known to cause cancers when repeatedly inhaled.
