Johnson & Johnson faces claim by 3,000 in U.K. who say asbestos in talcum powder made them sick

London – In the UK, thousands of people have filed a joint lawsuit, estimated to be worth more than £1 billion ($1.34 billion), against Johnson & Johnson, accusing the US pharmaceutical giant of selling baby powder that it knew was contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos.

The claim concerns more than 3,000 people who developed various forms of cancer and other illnesses and is based on internal memos and scientific reports from Johnson & Johnson.

The company has long fought thousands of similar cases in the United States and, despite winning a few appeals, in June of last year it agreed to pay $700 million as part of a nationwide settlement aimed at resolving allegations that it misled customers about the safety of its talc powder products when it was marketed.

Last week, a Los Angeles jury ordered the company to pay $966 million to the family of a woman who died of a form of cancer after using J&J products.

The British lawsuit, which covers the years 1965 to 2023, claims that Johnson & Johnson “knew that its talc products contained carcinogenic fibers, including asbestos, for more than fifty years and chose to keep them on the market for the sake of profit.”

Despite purported knowledge of carcinogens in its products, the company did not remove its talc products from British shelves until 2023, the suit claims, when it switched to a cornstarch product – three years after doing so in Canada and the United States.

“For decades, Johnson & Johnson has orchestrated a campaign of denial and subterfuge,” said the plaintiffs’ lead lawyer, Tom Longstaff of KP Law, who took the case to the U.K. High Court. “The facts are clear, contaminated talc contains carcinogenic materials and Johnson & Johnson knew the risk to consumers.”

“The scale of Johnson & Johnson’s wrongdoing is extraordinary, and we will not relent in our efforts to hold them accountable on behalf of all those who have suffered because of their actions,” Longstaff said.

Johnson & Johnson denies all allegations, including that it knew it was selling talc contaminated with asbestos.

A statement issued on behalf of the company said its baby powder “met all required regulatory standards, did not contain asbestos and did not cause cancer.”

Talc is a natural mineral that is often found with asbestos during the mining process, making it difficult to remove any traces of asbestos from the talcum powder.

The claim alleges that people who regularly used Johnson & Johnson talcum powders developed, and in many cases died from, ovarian cancer, mesothelioma (another form of cancer), uterine fibroids, and other illnesses.

“My mother used it and I used it,” Siobhan Ryan, 63, told CBS News partner BBC News. “It smelled great and was soft and lovely. When my babies were born, I used it on them. I thought I was doing the best for them… It was such a shock. We just hugged and cried. I couldn’t believe what I heard when the doctor told me I had stage four ovarian cancer.”

Siobhan, who blames Johnson & Johnson baby powder for her cancer, endured three rounds of chemotherapy, near-fatal sepsis and major abdominal surgery. Doctors say his cancer is no longer operable.

“They knew it was contaminated and they still sold it to new mothers and their babies,” she said.

According to the British claim, Johnson & Johnson began commissioning scientists to analyze its talc products in the 1960s. In 1969, an internal memo said that until tremolite – one of six types of asbestos – was proven to have no adverse effects, its use should be minimized and noted that the safety of talc for babies could no longer be guaranteed.

In the 1980s, it was widely believed that all forms of asbestos were dangerous and could cause cancer, but Johnson & Johnson — and other companies — successfully lobbied the U.S. Food and Drug Administration not to regulate the asbestos content of talc, according to the lawsuit.

In 2018, the FDA finally began testing talcum powder and other related products for asbestos. A year later, Johnson & Johnson voluntarily recalled a batch of its powder after the FDA discovered asbestos fibers in a sample.

UK claims will be decided by a judge, rather than a jury, in the Manchester Circuit Commercial Court of the High Court of the United Kingdom.

In a statement issued on behalf of Johnson & Johnson, the company said it believed the judge would conclude that its talcum powder did not cause cancer.