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Johnson & Johnson to stop selling baby powder in US J&J to still sell baby powder in UK despite US ban
(about 13 hours later)
Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson is to stop selling its talc-based Johnson's Baby Powder in the US and Canada. Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson says it will continue to sell its talc-based Johnson's Baby Powder in the UK and the rest of the world, despite stopping sales in the US and Canada.
The firm faces many thousands of lawsuits from consumers who claim that its talc products caused their cancer. It said North American sales had shrunk partly because of a "constant barrage" of advertising by lawyers seeking clients to claim against the company.
The move comes after years of litigation where Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay out billions of dollars in compensation. J&J has been at the centre of claims for years that its talc causes cancer.
The company has consistently defended the safety of its talc products. It has always strenuously defended the product's safety.
Johnson & Johnson said it would wind down sales of the product, which makes up about 0.5% of its US consumer health business, in the coming months, but that retailers would continue to sell existing inventory. Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay out billions of dollars in compensation, but has so far always successfully appealed against these verdicts.
The firm faces more than 16,000 consumer lawsuits alleging that the company's talc products were contaminated with asbestos, a known carcinogen. Almost 20,000 people in the US have so far lodged claims against the company.
The firm said that demand for Johnson's Baby Powder had been declining in North America "due in large part to changes in consumer habits and fuelled by misinformation around the safety of the product". Talc is mined from the earth and is found in seams close to that of asbestos, a material known to cause cancer.
It said it had faced "a constant barrage" of lawyers advertising for clients to sue the firm. The company said in a statement: "Johnson & Johnson remains steadfastly confident in the safety of talc-based Johnson's Baby Powder."
"We remain steadfastly confident in the safety of talc-based Johnson's Baby Powder. Decades of independent scientific studies by medical experts around the world support the safety of our product," it said. It said "decades" of study by medical and legal experts around the world supported its view, and all verdicts against the company that had gone against it had been overturned on appeal.
The firm added that the move was part of a reassessment of its consumer products prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. It will continue to sell its talc-based products in the US and Canada until stocks have sold out.
It said in October that its testing had found no asbestos in its Baby Powder after tests conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration discovered trace amounts. It also sells a cornstarch-based powder which it will continue to sell in North America.
It said both types of Johnson's baby powder, talc-based and cornstarch-based, will continue to be sold in other markets around the world where there is "significantly higher" consumer demand for the product.
The firm said changes in consumer behaviour had also dampened demand for the powder.
The firm added that the move was also part of a reassessment of its consumer products prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
It said in October that its testing had found no asbestos in its baby powder after tests conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration discovered trace amounts.
The firm is appealing against a 2018 order to pay $4.7bn (£3.6bn) in damages to 22 women who alleged that its talc products caused them to develop ovarian cancer.The firm is appealing against a 2018 order to pay $4.7bn (£3.6bn) in damages to 22 women who alleged that its talc products caused them to develop ovarian cancer.