The pharmaceutical giant's payment resolves allegations that it misled consumers about the safety of its talcum-based powder products.
Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $700 million to settle lawsuits in the United States that accused the pharmaceutical giant of misleading customers about the safety of its talcum powder products.
J&J's payment resolves an investigation conducted in more than 40 U.S. states into the marketing of baby powder and other talc-based products that contained traces of cancer-causing asbestos.
“Targeting communities with cosmetic products that contain dangerous substances is not only illegal, it is very cruel,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Tuesday.
“No amount of money can undo the pain caused by Johnson & Johnson's talcum-based products, but today families can rest assured that the company is being held accountable for the harm it caused and its dangerous products will no longer be on shelves. NY. York. “Those who take advantage of our communities, harm their health, and violate our laws will be met with the full force of my office.”
Under the terms of the agreement, the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based multinational will permanently stop the manufacturing, marketing and sale of all body products containing talc.
J&J, which pulled its talcum powder from North American shelves in 2020 and stopped selling it globally last year, has not admitted wrongdoing and has maintained that its products do not cause cancer.
The settlement does not resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits filed by consumers who allege their products caused their cancer.
Last month, the firm said it would move forward with a $6.475 billion settlement to resolve 99.75 percent of pending lawsuits in the United States.
Investigations by The New York Times and Reuters news agency found that J&J executives hid concerns for decades that its baby powder products might contain asbestos.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2020 found no statistical link between using powder in the genital area and ovarian cancer in women.
However, the researchers cautioned that the study, which involved data from 250,000 women in the US, may not have been large enough to detect a small potential increase in risk.
