Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson will pay $8.9 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits alleging that the talcum in its iconic baby powder caused cancer. However, the US company's proposal will need the approval of a bankruptcy court.
Here are 5 facts on this big story:
- In May 2020, Johnson & Johnson said that it would discontinue the sale of its talcum powder for babies in US and Canada, citing "changing consumer habits fuelled by misinformation".
- In August 2022, after scanning through thousands of lawsuits, Johnson & Johnson announced that the company would discontinue the product globally after allegations that it caused ovarian cancer due to the presence of asbestos, a known carcinogen, in talcum.
- The company soon announced that it was making a "commercial decision" to switch to cornstarch instead of talcum powder for all its baby powder products.
- If approved by a bankruptcy court, the $8.9 billion payout would be one of the largest public liability settlements ever in the US.
- Closer to home, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration cancelled Johnson & Johnson's baby powder manufacturing licence after samples taken from its Mulund plant were declared "not of standard quality" in 2019. However, earlier this year the Bombay High Court set aside that order.
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