J&J Recalls Talcum Powder Found Tainted with Asbestos

Mesh Medical Device news Desk, October 18, 2019 ~ The first time ever, Johnson & Johnson is recalling a shipment of baby powder after the FDA found some evidence of asbestos in one of the bottles.

This will not serve the defense in the growing number of baby powder/mesothelioma/ ovarian cancer trials the healthcare giant is facing.  

In "an abundance of caution," healthcare giant, Johnson & Johnson has issued a recall of a shipment of Baby Powder because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reportedly found asbestos in some of the lot.   The recalled baby powder was shipped and produced last year.

It is Lot #22318RB.  Altogether there were 33,000 bottles sold, though the New York Times does not identify the retailer.

J&J says the amount found was very low amounts of chrysotile asbestos, amounting to two ten-thousands of a percent.  There is no safe level of asbestos.

Talc and asbestos are mined from similar areas. J&J has insisted that its baby powder never contained asbestos but litigation has shown that company executives understood that asbestos contamination was possible in its product and also in Shower to Shower, its other powder. Used genitally, the theory is that the asbestos can travel up the vagina to the ovaries where it can cause cancer. Other users have mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer resulting from asbestos exposure.

J&J will work with the FDA to determine the "validity of test results," the Times reports.  Thousands of product liability lawsuits are waiting to have their day in court and the Times reports that Erik Gordon, a University of Michigan business professor believes this move will undermine the defense and could lead to greater settlements.

The New York Times has the entire story here.  
‍

LEARN MORE:
‍

MND, Latest $417 Million Case Against J&J Tossed, October 21, 2017
https://www.meshmedicaldevicenewsdesk.com/latest-417-million-jj-talc-case-tossed/

MND, $72 Million Talc Case Tossed on Appeal, October 18, 2017
https://www.meshmedicaldevicenewsdesk.com/72-million-talc-case-tossed-appeal/

MND, SCOTUS Decision Forces Talc PL out of MO Court, September 20, 2017
https://www.meshmedicaldevicenewsdesk.com/supreme-court-decision-forces-talc-plaintiffs-mo-court/

CVN on Herford Trial
http://blog.cvn.com/breaking-jj-scores-1st-trial-victory-over-claims-its-talc-products-cause-mesothelioma

Post Courier report on Talcum Powder/Cancer Link
https://www.meshmedicaldevicenewsdesk.com/post-courier-excellent-reporting-on-talcum-power-cancer-link/

J&J Cleared of Mesothelioma Claim in Talc Trial
https://www.meshmedicaldevicenewsdesk.com/jj-cleared-mesothelioma-claim-talc-trial/

New York Times, Editorial, Does Industry Care?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/opinion/editorials/johnson-johnson-baby-powder-talc.html

Mesh News Desk, September 5, 2016, Where is Talc Mined?
https://www.meshmedicaldevicenewsdesk.com/jj-talc-mined/