Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson over their dangerous talcum powder that has been long marketed towards Black women.
During a press conference about the lawsuit, Crump allowed several women to speak on their personal experiences with the detrimental effects of using the talcum-based Johnson & Johnson powder. One woman talked candidly about her grandmother, who died of ovarian cancer due to using the powder.
Within the lawsuit, Crump references dozens of studies conducted by several health and scientific groups that all linked the use of talcum-based products to ovarian cancer. Many of these studies date as far back as the 60s and 70s. Yet, Johnson & Johnson continued to sell these harmful products.
Crump filed the suit on behalf of the National Council of Negro Women, who slammed Johnson & Johnson for their predatory targeting of Black women over decades, who were the company’s biggest consumers of their powder products.
“This company, through its words and images, told Black women that we were offensive in our natural state and needed to use their products to stay fresh,” NCNW executive director Janice Mathis stated. “Generations of Black women believed them and made it our daily practice to use their products in ways that put us at risk of cancer, and we taught our daughters to do the same. Shame on Johnson and Johnson.”
This lawsuit is just the latest of its kind for the company. In 2018, a jury ruled that Johnson & Johnson must pay 22 women and their families a total of $4.7 billion in damages due to their products causing ovarian cancer. The Supreme Court rejected the company’s request for a review of the verdict. Shortly after, J&J announced that they would no longer carry the talcum-based products, though they have not acknowledged the link to cancer.
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