NEW YORK: Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will stop selling talc-based baby powder globally in 2023, the drugmaker said on Thursday (Aug 11), more than two years after it ended US sales of a product that drew thousands of consumer safety lawsuits.
“As part of a worldwide portfolio assessment, we have made the commercial decision to transition to an all cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio,” it said, adding that cornstarch-based baby powder is already sold in countries around the world.
In 2020, J&J announced that it would stop selling its talc Baby Powder in the United States and Canada because demand had fallen in the wake of what it called “misinformation” about the product’s safety amid a barrage of legal challenges.
The company faces about 38,000 lawsuits from consumers and their survivors claiming its talc products caused cancer due to contamination with asbestos, a known carcinogen.
J&J denies the allegations, saying decades of scientific testing and regulatory approvals have shown its talc to be safe and asbestos-free. On Thursday, it reiterated the statement as it announced the discontinuation of the product.
The company spun off subsidiary LTL Management in October, assigned its talc claims to it and immediately placed it into bankruptcy, pausing the pending lawsuits.
Before the bankruptcy filing, the company faced costs from US$3.5 billion in verdicts and settlements, including one in which 22 women were awarded a judgment of more than US$2 billion, according to bankruptcy court records. – Reuters
