Devon woman links tragic diagnosis with talcum powder use

A north Devon business woman is among thousands of people in the UK who are planning to take legal action against Johnson & Johnson over alleged links between its baby powder and cancer. Lawyers claim the company "knew for decades" that there was allegedly asbestos present in its talc products, although Johnson & Johnson (J&J) maintains that its baby powder was safe and stressed that it "takes the issue of talc safety incredibly seriously".

Linda Jones, 66, a company director, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in November 2023, and said she used J&J talc from when she was a baby until she was in her 20s. She has been told by medics she may only have months to live.

"We all used talc, without exception," she said. "My mother used it on me when I was a baby in the 50s, and I kept using it for years after."

Mrs Jones added: "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.

"But I am also bitter and very angry. 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."

J&J has faced tens of thousands of lawsuits in the US over the alleged links between its talc and cancer. A J&J spokesperson claimed that the company has won the "vast majority" of trials in the US, or won them on appeal.

It announced in August 2022 that it would stop making talc-based powder globally and would transition to using corn-starch. The company discontinued sales of talc-based baby powder in the UK in 2023.

If the UK action goes ahead, it is understood to be the first of its kind against the pharmaceutical giant in the UK. Claimants, including cancer patients, survivors, and the families of those who have died from the disease, have expressed anger and called for answers.

KP Law is leading the UK case, representing about 2,000 people. It is also understood to have been contacted by 4,000 potential clients in regards to claims.

KP Law has issued a letter before action on behalf of its clients, giving J&J until the end of the year to respond before filing documents with the High Court.

Tom Longstaff, a partner at KP Law, said: "All of the claimants, predominantly women but also some men, who have sustained cancer after using J&J's talcum powder products have experienced a life-changing illness. In some cases, they have died from their cancer, leaving their families devastated. All of these innocent individuals deserve justice."

Erik Haas, worldwide vice president of litigation at Johnson & Johnson, said the company "takes the issue of talc safety incredibly seriously and always has".

He added: "As our documents show, we have relied upon the most state-of-the-art testing protocols for decades and have been entirely transparent with government institutions and academic researchers regarding our findings. Those findings uniformly show the absence of asbestos contamination in Johnson's Baby Powder and the talc sourced for Johnson's Baby Powder.

"Independent science makes clear that talc is not associated with the risk of ovarian cancer nor mesothelioma."

He also claimed the lawyers of groups of plaintiffs in the US are "actively pushing a false narrative about the history of talc and its alleged contamination to media globally" which "defies logic, rewrites history, and ignores the facts".