A major class action has been launched in the United Kingdom against pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, accusing it of selling baby powder allegedly contaminated with asbestos for decades.
BBC reports that the lawsuit, involved around 3,000 people, claims the company knew since the 1960s that its talcum powder contained harmful minerals linked to cancer but failed to warn consumers. Internal company documents and scientific reports seen by the BBC are being used as evidence in the case.
According to the claim, Johnson & Johnson identified traces of tremolite and actinolite — minerals that in fibrous form are classified as asbestos- in its talc-based products. Despite this, the firm continued to market its baby powder as pure and safe.
One 1973 company memo reportedly stated, “Our baby powder contains talc fragments classifiable as fiber. Occasionally sub-trace quantities of tremolite or actinolite are identifiable.” Another document allegedly advised that findings about asbestos should be kept “confidential rather than allow the whole world know.”
Johnson & Johnson has denied the allegations, insisting its baby powder met all regulatory standards and did not contain asbestos. “Our baby powder was compliant with any required regulatory standards, did not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer,” the company said in a statement.
Lawyers for the claimants estimate that damages could reach hundreds of millions of pounds, making it one of the largest product liability cases in UK history.
The sale of Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based baby powder in the UK ended in 2023, following years of lawsuits in the United States, where the company has faced multiple verdicts totaling billions of dollars in damages.
Many UK claimants, including cancer patients and families of victims, say they used the powder for years believing it was safe.
One of them, 63-year-old Siobhan Ryan from Somerset, said she developed stage 4 ovarian cancer after decades of using the product. “My mother used it and I used it. It smelt nice and was soft and lovely. They knew it was contaminated and still they sold it to new mums and their babies,” she said.
Earlier this month, a court in Connecticut ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $25 million to a man who developed terminal mesothelioma after using the company’s baby powder. The firm plans to appeal the ruling.
Johnson & Johnson has since moved its consumer health division to a separate company called Kenvue, which said the product’s safety was supported by “independent testing by laboratories, universities, and health authorities worldwide.”
