Supreme Court rejects Johnson & Johnson request to halt talcum powder suit
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by Johnson & Johnson to halt a Mississippi lawsuit over its talcum powder products.
As is typical, justices did not explain why they are not taking up the issue, which was included in a long list of cases the court said it would not hear. The case dates from 2014, when Mississippi officials sued Johnson & Johnson for allegedly violating state law by failing to warn users of "potentially lethal" health risks of using its products, including ovarian cancer.
Johnson & Johnson says the Food and Drug Administration had considered requiring a warning on talcum powder products and concluded that the evidence did not justify requiring one. It has argued that Mississippi is barred from suing, but courts in the state allowed the case to proceed.
Thousands of women have sued Johnson & Johnson claiming the talcum used in the baby powder gave them ovarian cancer. Talcum is a mineral similar in structure to asbestos, which is known to cause cancer, and they are sometimes obtained from the same mines.
The National Council of Negro Women filed a lawsuit in July in New Jersey alleging that several of its members developed ovarian cancer after using Johnson & Johnson baby powder for year.
"Very ambiguous" study results
A U.S. government-led analysis of 250,000 women, the largest such study to look at the question, found no strong evidence linking talc powder with ovarian cancer. The lead author of the analysis called the results "very ambiguous" however.
J&J, which is based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, has stopped selling its iconic talc-based Johnson's Baby Powder in the U.S. and Canada, though it remains on the market elsewhere. The company has set aside almost $4 billion for settling future lawsuits tied to the product.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court turned away a different talcum powder case involving a $2 billion verdict in favor of 22 women who claimed they developed ovarian cancer from using Johnson & Johnson talc products. Nine of the women have died from ovarian cancer, lawyers for the plaintiffs said in June.
