The pharmaceutical Johnson & Johnson announced Thursday that it will stop selling its baby talcum powder worldwide by 2023, two years after stopping them in the US and Canada, prompted by thousands of complaints about the product’s safety. In a brief note, the company said it has made the “business decision” to replace talc with cornstarch in this children’s product after receiving some 38,000 lawsuits linking its long-term use to the development of canceralthough he continued to deny that his product is the cause.
At the end of 2018, information emerged that indicated that J&J had known for decades that its talcum powders contained asbestos, a mineral with a composition and characteristics similar to asbestos and with harmful effects on health. Since then, J&J has faced thousands of lawsuits accusing it of contributing to the development of ovarian cancer in consumers, a claim the company denies and has every year causing millions of dollars to be spent on litigation. “Our position on the safety of our cosmetic talc remains unchanged. We strongly defend the decades of scientific analysis by medical experts around the world that confirm Johnson’s baby talcum powder is safe, asbestos-free and cancer-free,” the firm said.
The company faces other legal problems in the US and agreed earlier this year to pay millions of dollars to several states, along with other major drug distributors, for their responsibility in the opioid crisis.