Have you developed cancer, or been harmed in other ways by your use of talcum powder? The time to act is NOW. Call the Clauson Law Firm today, toll-free, at 833-680-0177 or reach us by e-mail at [email protected]. We’re standing by to hear from you.
To best explain the current controversy surrounding talcum powder—and to help you decide whether to consult an attorney for help—this page will provide definitions, facts and figures about talcum powder. At the Clauson Law Firm, we believe that everyone deserves the best, most accurate information affecting their lives. So read on, and if you need to reach out, The Clauson Law Firm is here for you.
It goes by several different names: talc, talcum or talcum powder, but by any of those names it is talc, a mineral found in the Earth that is considered the world’s softest mineral. Talc, like other minerals, is mined. The United States is the fourth-largest talc mining country in the world, mining talc in the eastern Appalachian and Piedmont regions, and in western and southwestern states like California, Montana, Nevada, Texas and Washington.
Yesterday’s Powder is Today’s Mass Tort: Talcum Powder Litigation: Currently, talcum powder is the subject of an estimated 13,000-16,000 lawsuits across the United States.
Talc is often associated with asbestos—a cancer-causing agent that itself remains the subject of ongoing, expensive mass tort litigation. Many current lawsuits assert that talc, in its association with asbestos, can cause cancer.
Yes, it is. Asbestos has been linked to
Basically, talc and asbestos are sometimes neighbors. To see the association, consider this: talc is believed to occur in the Earth adjacent to minerals found in asbestos. Mining talc often brings asbestos minerals up too. Perhaps unsurprisingly, talc and asbestos eventually find their way into products together. A 1976 National Institutes of Health study of 20 talcum-based body powders manufactured before 1973 found fully half showed measurable amounts of tremolite and anthrophyllite—minerals that are found in asbestos. It’s not just the asbestos in baby powder, either. A year-long Food and Drug Administration study, released in March 2020, showed asbestos-tainted talc in nearly 20 percent of the cosmetics products it tested. Including bronzer, blush and compact pressed powder.
Major manufacturers of talc products, like Johnson & Johnson, do not deny that some consumers who have used talc, have also developed cancer. The controversyover talc is more about whether talc caused cancer in those individuals.
**Correlation versus causation is a complicated issue. The question of whether talc has harmed you—and how—is best addressed to an experienced attorney.** What this page can do, and will do, is equip you with important information. For example:
As early as 1913, Johnson & Johnson advertised their talc-based baby powder as “Best for Baby, Best for You,” in an effort to broaden the market for the product to include adults.
A 1980s-era commercial jingle touted Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based product Shower to Shower with the memorable line, “A sprinkle a day helps keep odor away.” By 1985, an estimated 70 percent of U.S. households used baby powder daily. As talc use became more widespread, however, concerns emerged as to its possible dangers—for both babies and adults alike.
Following Berg’s groundbreaking lawsuit, juries began awarding larger and larger sums against talcum powder manufacturers. Some of those verdicts are listed below.
The following list of verdicts is not comprehensive and is provided for informational purposes only. Past verdicts are no guarantee of what subsequent cases will deliver, and the following verdicts are not an average, nor should they be used to calculate an average.
Other recent jury verdicts, and their respective states, include:
It is estimated that as many as 16,000 talcum powder lawsuits are pending in U.S. courts, cases that could return verdicts totaling billions of dollars.
Although each case is different, talcum powder cases often center on the same set of legal theories. Because they are a type of personal injury litigation, talcum powder cases generally center on a specific set of claims:
These are only a few examples of the legal theories involved in a personal injury suit.Here’s how they might work:
The elements are:
These theories are presented for informative purposes only, and do not guarantee any result whatsoever in your situation. If you have been harmed by your use of talcum powder, you should contact an attorney to discuss these theories.
The issue with talcum powder is not talcum powder, exactly. The substance itself, by itself, is not the dangerous element. Rather, it is the substances that talcum powder can bring with it that are the concern. Primarily, the concern with talcum powder is asbestos. Asbestos is clearly linked in medical literature to two cancers, ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, which not coincidentally are at the heart of most (if not all) talcum powder lawsuits.
The National Institutes of Health published a meta-study in 2011 that explicitly linked asbestos and ovarian cancer, finding that “[o]ur study supports the IARC conclusion that exposure to asbestos is associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have concurred about the link between asbestos exposure and ovarian cancer.
. As of 2008, ovarian cancer was the second-leading cause of gynecologic cancer death worldwide.
Mechanism of action: It is thought that asbestos particles within the talc are inhaled through the lungs and work their way down to the abdomen; asbestos particles can enter the vaginal area through application of talc containing asbestos.
This cancer centered primarily in the fine tissues of the lungs and chest is nearly always caused by asbestos exposure. Put another way, mesothelioma almost never occurs in the absence of asbestos exposure. A 2020 study published by the National Institutes of Health was titled “Mesothelioma Associated With the Use of Cosmetic Talc,” and examined 33 cases of individuals having no known asbestos exposure other than their use of talcum powder. The study’s authors concluded that “[e]xposure to asbestos-contaminated talcum powders can cause mesothelioma. Clinicians should elicit a history of talcum powder usage in all patients presenting with mesothelioma.”
Have you developed cancer, or been harmed in other ways by your use of talcum powder? The time to act is NOW. Call the Clauson Law Firm today, toll-free, at 833-680-0177 or reach us by e-mail at [email protected]. We’re standing by to hear from you.
