Preview Newsletter
talc 5/10
-
Johnson & Johnson expected to appeal recent $55 million talc verdict
May 9, 2016 | Madison - St. Clair Record
By Abbey Sinclair
Johnson & Johnson is expected to appeal a $55 million jury verdict reached May 2 in St. Louis City Circuit Court in favor of a 62-year woman who claimed its talcum powder caused her ovarian cancer. -
3 Reasons Johnson & Johnson Investors Shouldn't Fret Over Talc Suits
May 9, 2016 | The Motley Fool
By Cory Renauer
Earlier this month, a Missouri jury ordered Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) to pay a woman $55 million because she developed ovarian cancer after applying its talc-based powder products for decades. The same court, but a different jury, awarded another women $72 million this February in a similar case. -
Attorney: At Least 1,000 More Baby Powder Lawsuits Filed
May 9, 2016 | CBS Local - St. Louis
Two huge verdicts in St. Louis court against Johnson & Johnson, and one of the attorneys on the case says there could be a thousand more to come. -
Post J&J verdicts, talcum powder norms in spotlight
May 9, 2016 | The Hindu Business Line
The verdicts in two cases Johnson & Johnson in the US in the past two months could have its ripple effects on the talcum powder manufacturers in India too. -
Research continues on cancer risks associated with talc powder
May 10, 2016 | Philippine Daily Inquirer
By Anne A. Jambora
Anxiety looms over the use of talc powder as Johnson & Johnson once again lost a costly court case when a jury in St. Louis, Missouri, awarded $55 million to a woman who claimed using J&J’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for feminine hygiene purposes caused her to develop ovarian cancer.
Client Attorney Privileged/Attorney Work Product/At Request of Counsel
US Coverage
APAC Coverage
Full Text of Stories Below
-
Johnson & Johnson expected to appeal recent $55 million talc verdict
May 9, 2016 | Madison - St. Clair Record
By Abbey Sinclair
Johnson & Johnson is expected to appeal a $55 million jury verdict reached May 2 in St. Louis City Circuit Court in favor of a 62-year woman who claimed its talcum powder caused her ovarian cancer.
“The evidence presented to the jury misrepresented and distorted the science regarding talc and ovarian cancer,” Gene Williams, an attorney for J&J, told the Record. “The scientific reality is that cosmetic talc does not cause cancer.”
Carol Goodrich, a J&J spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement that the jury’s decision “goes against 30 years of studies by medical experts around the world that continue to support the safety of cosmetic talc.”
“We understand that women and families affected by ovarian cancer are searching for answers, and we deeply sympathize with all who have been affected by this devastating disease with no known cause,” Goodrich stated.
“Johnson & Johnson has always taken questions about the safety of our products extremely seriously. Multiple scientific and regulatory reviews have determined that talc is safe for use in cosmetic products and the labeling on Johnson’s Baby Powder is appropriate. For over 100 years, Johnson & Johnson has provided consumers with a safe choice for cosmetic powder products and we will continue to work hard to exceed consumer expectations and evolving product preferences. We will appeal the recent verdict and continue to defend the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder.”
More than 1,000 suits against the company have mounted in state and federal courts across the country. Multi-district litigation (MDL) has been discussed, but has not been established for the claims arising across the country.
The lawsuits claim J&J had in-depth knowledge of the link between ovarian cancer and their talc-based products for decades, as far back as the 1970s. Plaintiffs say the company did nothing in order to continue selling more products, even targeting the women who grew up using them.
Last week’s verdict for plaintiff Gloria Ristesund of South Dakota - awarded $50 million in punitive damages and $5 million in compensatory damages - came on the heels of a $72 million verdict in St. Louis in February for the family of Jacqueline Fox, a 62-year-old woman from Alabama who died of ovarian cancer last fall.
Just as Fox’s pathologist allegedly found talc particles in her ovaries, some studies from 1971 on have supported a link between talc and ovarian cancer. When dusted on genitals, underwear or sanitary products, the studies note that talc particles can travel up the reproductive tract where they can eventually become lodged in the ovaries, inflamed, and possibly lead to cancer.
“It was a great win for a very deserving lady,” said plaintiff attorney David Dearing of Beasley Allen in Montgomery, Ala.
“She [Ristesund] went through a very traumatic and life-changing event and we couldn’t be happier for her. J&J has known for a long time — decades — that their talc products have been associated with ovarian cancer. We hope that these verdicts will force them to take note, do the right thing, and put a warning label on their products because women should know that they are at an increased risk for developing ovarian cancer if they use them.”
According to Beasley Allen founder Jere Beasley, Ristesund's case was slated as a "defense pick" after the plaintiffs first selected the Fox case to go to trial
"If they can't win that one, they can't win one,” Beasley said. “They're going to have to come to the table and start settling cases."
In a press release, Beasley is quoted as saying: “We are calling on the bosses at J&J to establish a compensation fund that will be adequate to compensate all of the thousands of victims who have suffered greatly because of Johnson & Johnson’s intentional wrongdoing. We are also calling on this company to either pull the talc products from the market or at the very least give an adequate warning to women so they can make an informed choice. If J&J refuses, our law firm and those other firms working with us are dedicated to continuing our mission, and that is to obtain total and complete justice for all of Johnson & Johnson’s victims. The ball is in their court and our hope is J&J will change its corporate culture and do the right thing.”
The first talc case went to trial in federal court in South Dakota in 2013 on the claims of plaintiff Deane Berg of Sioux Falls. A physician’s assistant, Berg was diagnosed with stage III ovarian cancer at age 49 in 2006.
The jury did not award Berg monetary damages, but it did, however, declare that Johnson & Johnson had intentionally hidden facts about the risks of talcum powder use and cancer.
The next talcum powder case in Missouri is scheduled for September.
http://madisonrecord.com/stories/510722943-johnson-johnson-expected-to-appeal-recent-55-million-talc-verdict
-
3 Reasons Johnson & Johnson Investors Shouldn't Fret Over Talc Suits
May 9, 2016 | The Motley Fool
By Cory Renauer
Earlier this month, a Missouri jury ordered Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) to pay a woman $55 million because she developed ovarian cancer after applying its talc-based powder products for decades. The same court, but a different jury, awarded another women $72 million this February in a similar case.
Now, let me acknowledge right off the bat that ovarian cancer is a horrible disease, and my heart goes out to these women.
Let's take a look at how this news might impact an investment thesis for Johnson & Johnson. If you're one of my fellow J&J shareholders and worried about the effect roughly 1,200 additional talc-based lawsuits might have on your investment, your concern may be premature.
I'm not suggesting the company's legal department isn't busy. Disclosed legal proceedings in the company's latest annual report stretch on for nearly 11,000 words, but talc-based ovarian cancer-related suits didn't even make the list.
There will be some effect, but here are a few reasons these lawsuits shouldn't keep you up at night.
1. The science isn't there
The FDA doesn't have an approval process for cosmetic-product ingredients, but it keeps tabs on ones the public often inquires about, including talc. Asbestos, perhaps America's best-known carcinogen, and talc are sometimes discovered in proximity, so mining outfits need to be careful, as do quality-control departments of companies that buy talc in bulk.Apparently the FDA receives inquiries about asbestos in talc products from time to time -- which could be where this whole ovarian-cancer association began in the first place.
A couple of years back, the FDA bought dozens of talc-based products, including blush, eye-shadow, foundation, and, of course, Johnson's Baby Powder from random retail outlets in the Washington, D.C., metro area. The lab didn't detect a trace of carcinogenic asbestos in any of them.
As for scientific studies, I searched the National Institutes of Health and found a couple of studies that possibly hint at a relationship between ovarian cancer risk and decades-long use of talc in genital hygiene, but nothing that comes close to support labeling it as a carcinogen.
Laboratory studies that involve direct injection of talc into various cells and animal ovaries are, however, highly conclusive that talc is indeed not a carcinogen. Another lengthy review of over 70 studies pretty much closed the book on the subject about eight years ago.
2. Johnson & Johnson will do the right thing
Back in 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died after taking Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. Rather than shifting blame toward the psychopath that laced the capsules, the company did something revolutionary for its time. At no small expense it recalled 31 million bottles of Tylenol from store shelves, and replaced them with a safer tablet form.We take recalls for granted these days, but back then they were practically unheard of. The company's bold move was clearly the right thing to do from a moral perspective. It also turned out a wise business decision in the long run. J&J's share of the analgesic market plunged to 7% the year following the poisonings, from 37% the year before. It took an expensive media campaign on top of the recalls, but by the following year its share was then back to 30%, and J&J's over the counter drug sales are as strong as ever, racking up more than $1 billion in the first three months of the year, and Tylenol is still a major component of the group.
That was decades ago, but this is still a company that thinks generations ahead, not from quarter-to-quarter. If there were scientific evidence that talc-based products are carcinogenic, as opposed to the anecdotal sort that's stirring up anger on social media, I believe that Johnson & Johnson would make the responsible decision.
In the meantime, talc-based baby-powder may give way to the corn starch-based variety for a while, but Johnson & Johnson brands aren't going down over this, at least not permanently.
In fact, given that talc is a mined, finite resource, and the U.S. grows more corn than we know what to do with, a shift to maize might even boost margins.
3. Minimal business effect
I'm not saying there hasn't been any financial fallout over the negative publicity of the powder suits. First-quarter U.S. baby-care sales fell 14.4% compared with the same period last year, to $95 million. The $16 million loss comprised a whopping 0.09% of J&J's $17.48 billion in total revenue for the quarter.Exactly how much, if any, of that loss is due to talc-based fear is anybody's guess, but consumer sales as a whole were in line with the same period last year.
This is hardly surprising. Few people associateall brands with their parent companies. That would explain how U.S. sales from the over-the-counter and oral care groups posted 13.8% and 7.6% gains, respectively, in the first quarter over the same period last year. It seems people avoiding Johnson's Baby Powder are tossing bottles of Motrin and Listerine into their baskets on the way to the register.
If you're worried about a noncash writedown of the company's overall brand value, note that this is a relatively minor asset to begin with. When last assessed, the company's trademarks with indefinite lives were valued at just over $7 billion. Exactly what percentage of that figuremight succumb to talc-based fallout when these assets are assessed again is anybody's guess, but I doubt it would dent the company's book value of about $71.2 billion.
What this Fool believes
I don't think it's possible to sell $5.2 billion in consumer-health products throughout the U.S. without attracting lawsuits and negative publicity from time to time. Sometimes it leads to positive change. The cyanide poisonings and subsequent media uproar in the early '80s highlighted a need for tamper-proofing that benefits us all to this day. When it comes down to it, J&J has a good track record of doing right by consumers, and I believe the company will take these concerns seriously. I expect we'll see more studies (probably some commissioned by Johnson & Johnson) added to the body of evidence I cited above in the next few years -- studies that will hopefully reconfirm talc's safety.The good news is Johnson & Johnson's efforts to actually treat cancer are succeeding. From an investor's standpoint, global first-quarter sales of J&J's cancer therapies, such as Imbruvica, grew more than 22.2% over the same period last year to $1.35 billion. That should be more than enough to offset any losses to this temporary wave of unfounded talc-based anger, and shareholders can sleep well at night knowing that they own shares of a company that is, in fact, saving lives.
A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity
The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors!http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/09/3-reasons-johnson-johnson-investors-shouldnt-fret.aspx
-
Attorney: At Least 1,000 More Baby Powder Lawsuits Filed
May 9, 2016 | CBS Local - St. Louis
Two huge verdicts in St. Louis court against Johnson & Johnson, and one of the attorneys on the case says there could be a thousand more to come.
While the link between ovarian cancer and talc is a matter of scientific dispute, a St. Louis jury last Monday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $55 million to a South Dakota survivor of the disease. In February,another St. Louis jury awarded $72 million to relatives of an Alabama woman who died of ovarian cancer.
They are among several hundred lawsuits claiming that regularly applying products like Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower to the genitals can cause cancer.
Both cases were handled by the Onder Law Firm, based in Webster Groves, which is running advertisements urging cancer victims to come forward. Jim Onder says there are approximately 1,000 similar cases filed in St. Louis and another 200 in New Jersey.
Those numbers may rise.
“We’ve received thousands of phone calls from across the country,” Onder tells KMOX News. “You know, they’re horribly emotional calls.”
The Onder firm is hiring additional staff to deal with the deluge of calls and the increased caseload.
Onder doesn’t expect we’ll soon hear the end of talcum powder cancer cases. He says the latency period for the product can last decades.
“It’s a lot like asbestos. People will be exposed today and 10, 20, 30 years from now they’ll be developing ovarian cancer,” he says.
Onder says multiple medical studies show not a 35 percent increased risk of ovarian cancer for women who use talcum powder, but a 200 to 500 percent increase for certain groups.
“They went off and decided — because sales are dropping, profits are dropping — that they’re going to target African-American, Hispanic and overweight women, all groups of women that they know are at increased risk at baseline of ovarian cancer.”
“Unfortunately, the jury’s decision goes against 30 years of studies by medical experts around the world that continue to support the safety of cosmetic talc,” Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman Carol Goodrich said in a statement to the Associated Press.
She said Johnson & Johnson is appealing both verdicts while “focusing on the next trial.”
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2016/05/09/attorney-at-least-1000-more-baby-powder-lawsuits-filed/
-
Post J&J verdicts, talcum powder norms in spotlight
May 9, 2016 | The Hindu Business Line
The verdicts in two cases Johnson & Johnson in the US in the past two months could have its ripple effects on the talcum powder manufacturers in India too.
The cases have raised a massive health concern among consumers given two straight losses for J&J, which has to pay total compensation of $127 million in the two cases.
These cases — in which the usage of J&J’s baby talcum powder were found to be linked to ovarian cancer — have garnered massive attention and consumers, activists, the government and talcum manufacturers are all sitting up.
The manufacturers are concerned that any new parameters should not target one section of the industry — baby talc makers — and be generic.
The losses faced by J&J pertain not to the talcum powder itself, but more with its usage for feminine hygiene, therefore, any change in norm need to take into account baby as well as adult products.
Philipe Haydon, CEO, The Himalaya Drug Company, told BusinessLine, “We follow the law of the land and if any further regulatory communication is received, we will definitely comply. All our products and their labelling are done as per the stipulations of the Drugs and Cosmetic Act. If any label warning is mandated, it should ideally lead to changes across products, that contain talcum and not be restricted to only baby products.’’
Regulatory mechanism
Even as the government has asked the J&J for information on the safety of its products and also asked the Bureau of Indian Standards to revise the standards for this sector, consumer activists are talking about the lackadaisical manner the regulators work.Consumer rights activist Bejon Mishra said that the regulatory mechanism for setting standards is slow and the authorities need to be pushed to act quickly.
“The government and standard setting authority BIS should take cognisance of the cases in the US and react quickly to take immediate action,” he said.
Scientists have found that the use of talcum powder for feminine hygiene could lead to cancer as the minute mineral particles could enter the body and get lodged in the ovaries, causing inflammation, tumor and cancer.
J&J is facing about 1,200 similar cases in the US.
Consumer rights activists say they are closely monitoring the situation and waiting for the authorities to take the necessary steps. Other consumer advocacy groups believe there should be clear instructions on the packaging of talcum powder products, especially baby talcum powders to avoid indiscriminate use or wrong use.
Yogini Mishra, Co-ordinator, Association for Consumers Action on Safety and Health, a Mumbai-based advocacy group set by lawyers, said that talcum powder firms should be asked to have clear instructions and if possible even have pictorial depiction for the correct use of talcum powder.
She said these instructions should be put in regional languages or the national language as all strata of consumers use these products.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/post-jj-verdicts-talcum-powder-norms-in-spotlight/article8576676.ece
-
Research continues on cancer risks associated with talc powder
May 10, 2016 | Philippine Daily Inquirer
By Anne A. Jambora
Anxiety looms over the use of talc powder as Johnson & Johnson once again lost a costly court case when a jury in St. Louis, Missouri, awarded $55 million to a woman who claimed using J&J’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for feminine hygiene purposes caused her to develop ovarian cancer.
The court decision came barely three months after the company’s first defeat for the same complaint last February. The multinational company is facing 1,200 more lawsuits for the same accusation—that it allegedly withheld from consumers the information about the cancer risks of talc powder.
As the Philippines experiences its hottest summer so far, the demand for talc and other similar products increases as consumers attempt to keep the body fresh amid the unbearable heat and humidity.
But can talc really cause cancer?
Evidence from those who use talc for feminine hygiene has mixed results. A 2014 report by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, which studied more than 61,000 women for about 12 years, concluded that “perineal powder use does not appear to influence ovarian cancer risk.”
Ovarian cancer
But the jury in St. Luis awarded $55 million in damages to Gloria Ristesund, who used J&J talc powder products for more than 35 years before developing ovarian cancer in 2011.
The late Jacqueline Fox from Birmingham, Alabama, who succumbed to ovarian cancer in October 2015 at 62, also claimed she used J&J talc products for feminine hygiene purposes for over 35 years. The jury ordered J&J to pay $72 million to the family of Fox.
However, the American Cancer Society (ACS) said that “no increased risk of lung cancer has been reported with the use of cosmetic talcum powder.”
And yet a report by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that genital use of body talc powder is “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in its International Chemical Safety information for talc, stated, for long-term use, that “the substance may have effects on the lungs, resulting in talc pneumoconiosis.”
Meanwhile, Carol Goodrich, spokesperson for Johnson & Johnson Consumer, told CNN: “Multiple scientific and regulatory reviews have determined that talc is safe for use in cosmetic products and the labeling on Johnson’s Baby Powder is appropriate.”
Talc is not a known carcinogen, according to ACS, but recognizes that “it has been suggested” to cause ovarian cancer if the powder comes in direct contact with the genital area.
The ACS Talc Fact Sheet says that “for any individual woman, if there is an increased risk, the overall increase is likely to be very small… Still, talc is widely used in many products, so it is important to determine if the increased risk is real. Research in this area still continues.”
NBC News reported that J&J will appeal the court decisions.
http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/228391/research-continues-on-cancer-risks-associated-with-talc-powder
Client Attorney Privileged/Attorney Work Product/At Request of Counsel
US Coverage
APAC Coverage
Full Text of Stories Below
Add recipients
Suggested