London:
UK claimants on Wednesday introduced authorized motion in opposition to US pharmaceutical and cosmetics large Johnson & Johnson, alleging that girls identified with cancers have been uncovered to asbestos within the firm’s talcum powder.
J&J dangers UK court docket motion for the primary time over the allegations, having confronted a sequence of comparable lawsuits in North America.
KP regulation, the agency representing about 2,000 claimants, mentioned “girls who’ve been identified with life-changing and life-limiting cancers have been uncovered to asbestos contained inside the firm’s talcum powder”.
In response Erik Haas, J&J’s worldwide vice chairman of litigation, mentioned “Johnson & Johnson takes the problem of talc security extremely severely and all the time has”.
Haas added that J&J’s personal evaluation discovered an absence of asbestos contamination in its merchandise and mentioned “unbiased science makes clear that talc isn’t related to the danger of ovarian most cancers nor mesothelioma”.
J&J has till the tip of the yr to answer a letter despatched on behalf of KP Regulation’s purchasers, following which paperwork might be filed within the UK’s Excessive Courtroom.
The regulation agency is representing predominantly girls concerning the case, and says it has been contacted by hundreds extra, including that some have died of their cancers.
Legal professionals declare that the US-based company knew “as early because the Nineteen Seventies that asbestos in its talc merchandise was harmful however did not warn shoppers and carried on producing and promoting the merchandise within the UK till as just lately as 2022”.
J&J mentioned that Kenvue, its former consumer-health division that it separated out in 2023, is accountable for “any alleged talc legal responsibility that arises exterior the US or Canada”.
Kenvue didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from AFP .
SETTLED CLAIMS
Nonetheless, in September, J&J elevated its supply to settle talc claims regarding ovarian most cancers within the US to round $8 billion to be paid over 25 years.
Earlier this yr, the corporate agreed to pay $700 million to settle allegations it misled clients in regards to the security of its talcum-based energy merchandise in North America.
The corporate didn’t admit wrongdoing in its settlement however withdrew the product from the North American market in 2020.
The World Well being Group’s most cancers company in July labeled talc as “most likely carcinogenic” for people.
A abstract of research revealed in 2020 masking 250,000 girls in america didn’t discover a statistical hyperlink between using talc on the genitals and the danger of ovarian most cancers.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
