Cancer through the use of talc containing baby powder

Baby powder disease: Cancer patient receives high compensation
Although there have been repeated warnings about the health hazards of baby powder containing talc for years, such products are still available on the market. A cancer patient from the US has now been awarded the equivalent of 64 million euros in damages. Their illness is apparently due to decades of use of baby powder.

Cancer by baby powder
A cancer patient from the US has been awarded by a court 70 million dollars (about the equivalent of 64 million euros) damages. To pay must the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, producer of a baby powder, which had used the 62-year-old plaintiff for decades. This product is said to have caused ovarian cancer in the woman. Experts have warned for years about the health risks of baby powders containing talcum.

Already for years, the health risks are warned by baby powders containing talcum. A cancer patient from the US has now been awarded a huge sum of damages. Your illness is probably due to the use of the powder. (Image: thitarees / fotolia.com)

Baby powder for intimate hygiene adult
Three years ago, today's 62-year-old Deborah Giannecchini from California received the news that she had cancer.

As her lawyers reported in a report from the US media company Bloomberg, the woman used the baby powder from Johnson & Johnson for her private care for up to four decades.

Now she has an 80 percent risk of dying over the next two years, and she's undergoing surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, the lawyers said.

Increased risk was known
The talc-containing baby powder should be responsible for the ovarian cancer disease. Johnson & Johnson was aware that "Studies in the last 30 years have seen an increased risk of oral ovarian cancer from talc," said Giannecchini's lawyer Allen Smith. But the company "developed a defense strategy to prevent government regulation of its products," said the lawyer. The Group "knew that the public was unaware of the risk".

There are currently around 1,700 cases against the producer
Earlier this year, the pharmaceutical giant was ordered to pay $ 72 million in damages after a woman died of ovarian cancer. She too had used the company's talc-containing baby powder for decades. According to media reports, about 1,700 lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson are currently pending.

The manufacturer sees himself wrongly convicted and wants to challenge the verdict. "We are led by science that demonstrates the safety of Johnson's baby powder," said company spokeswoman Carol Goodrich.

Other health risks
However, the scientific studies of recent years have not only pointed to a potential cancer risk from talc. Products containing this mineral can cause even more health problems.

Thus, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) 2011 had issued a warning against talcum containing baby powder. In a press release, the experts wrote: "Talc-containing baby powder can lead to severe health problems in babies and toddlers. If a baby or toddler inadvertently inhales the powder, it can enter the lungs and cause respiratory distress or severe lung damage. "

"According to many paediatricians, the use of talcum-containing baby powder is not necessary from a medical point of view," it said in the message. A ban on such products has also been envisaged. (Ad)