Name: Thousands in UK sue Johnson & Johnson over talcum powder cancer risks | BBC News
Uploaded: 2025-10-17T02:34:47.000Z
Duration: 4 min 9 s
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A major UK legal claim has been filed against Johnson & Johnson

Relative clauses (Restrictive vs. nonrestrictive)

involving approximately 3,000 claimants who allege they developed cancers

due to asbestos-contaminated talc products.

The company is accused of negligence and deceit.

The claim site's internal documents that they allege

show the company was aware of asbestos risks in its TALC from the 1960s,

but failed to warn consumers and instead continued to emphasise its purity

I stayed in hospice with her for tile she was there.

Peter remembers the last painful days of his wife's life.

I remember [her] saying to me, "I'm dying."

Kim was 59 years old when she died from ovarian cancer,

after using baby powder on her children in the '80s and '90s.

Her family say Kim continued to use it for the following decades.

She died at about 8 o' clock that evening.

Peter found this baby powder bottle in his bathroom cabinet after Kim died.

Like the other claimants in this case, he believes it was the talc that gave his wife cancer.

Branded as an iconic family favorite trusted by all.

Johnson's baby powder from Johnson & Johnson.

But the claimants in this lawsuit are alleging that in the months and years before these targeted advertising campaigns,

the executives at Johnson & Johnson were aware of a growing risk.

Talc is a naturally occurring mineral that is often mined in close proximity to asbestos deposits.

The lawsuit alleges that company executives

knew talcum powder had asbestos fibres in it and tried to conceal that fact.

According to the claims, many documents note talc could be contaminated with asbestos fibres.

One internal letter from 1973 says sub trace quantities of tremolite or actinolite are identifiable.

These might be classified as asbestos fibre.

J&J says this is a misrepresentation of the letter.

Another document discusses a patent that aims to eliminate asbestos from all talc.

It claims that an internal letter says we may wish to keep the whole thing confidential

J&J says this was confidential because any patent could have been valuable.

The primary allegation being made by the claimants in this case

is that Johnson & Johnson have knownly sold a product which is dangerous,

which was contaminated with asbestos, that wasn't pure,

wasn't safe for use on babies, on adults in any way, shape or form.

And that this product is something that's been sold for years in the pursuit of profit and at the expense of safety.

This case could become one of the largest product liability actions in UK history, with over 3,000 claimants.

In the US, similar claims have resulted in Johnson & Johnson being told to pay out billions in damages.

J&J has moved its consumer health arm to a new company called Kenvu,

"the safety of the baby powder was backed by years of testing by independent and leading laboratories,

universities and health authorities in the UK and around the world."

It said J&J's Baby Powder was compliant with any required regulatory standards,

did not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.

Before Kim died, she wrote letters to Pete and the children.

"My darling Pete, thank you for all the wonderful youth years we've had together."