Research Continues to Tie Talcum Powder with Female Cancers, Parker Waichman Comments

A cancer survivor has come forward to say she declined a settlement with Johnson & Johnson, preferring to speak out for others who have been sickened.

Parker Waichman LLP, a national law firm dedicated to protecting the rights of consumers affected by defective products, comments about recent research linking the genital use of talcum powder with deadly reproductive female cancers. The study, according to a March 3, 2016 Reuters Health report citing the journal Epidemiology revealed that ovarian cancer risks were three times greater in woman who regularly used talc powder in their genital area.

The researchers spoke to thousands of women about their use of talcum powder: 2,041 with an ovarian cancer diagnosis and 2,100 with no ovarian cancer diagnosis. Findings indicate that women who said that they routinely applied talc to their “crotches, sanitary napkins, tampons, and underwear” had a 33 percent increased risk of developing ovarian cancer, Reuters Health reported.

Dr. Daniel W. Cramer, lead author and head of Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, is calling for talcum powder warning labels; however, according to Reuters Health, has had no success. He told the media outlet that, “This is an easily modified risk factor…. Talc is a good drying agent, but women should know that if it’s used repeatedly, it can get into the vagina and into their upper genital tract. And I think if they knew that, they wouldn’t use it.” Dr. Cramer first started reporting the link to deadly reproductive female cancers as far back as 1982 and has testified as a paid expert in lawsuits involving talcum powder.

This current research is the first to isolate the tie between genital talcum powder use to ovarian cancer in premenopausal women, as well as postmenopausal women who used hormone therapy. Dr. Cramer and his team wrote that this finding may help in explaining earlier contradictory results. Dr. Nicolas Wentzensen, head of clinical epidemiology for the National Cancer Institute, who was not involved in this research, told Reuters Health that the research reinforces evidence the link writing, “The recent paper in Epidemiology has provided additional support for an association between talc use and ovarian cancer from a case-control study.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that approximately 20,000 American women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer; 14,500 will die annually, Reuters Health writes. In 2006, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified genital talc as possibly carcinogenic, yet the CDC still does not list talc as an ovarian cancer risk factor.

In a prior case, a 58-year-old physician’s assistant (PA) from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, says that a recent judgment found in favor of a deceased woman’s family for $72 million is a wonderful victory. The PA was diagnosed with a hemorrhagic ovary bilateral carcinoma (stage 3 ovarian cancer) that metastasized to her lymph nodes. She underwent removal of both ovaries, was given a life expectancy of less than five year, and underwent a full hysterectomy and six months of painful chemotherapy, according to The New York Post.

After reviewing literature from her oncologist and conducting her own research, she learned that, “use of talcum powder has been implicated in the development of ovarian cancer,” The New York Post reported. She noted that her only ovarian cancer risk was her genital use of talcum powder since she was 18 years of age—both Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower, which she noted was touted as a feminine hygiene product with ads such as, “A sprinkle a day helps keep odor away.” The leaflet she received from her oncologist indicated that, since the early 1980s a number of studies revealed that women who regularly use talc powders for feminine hygiene have increased risks for ovarian cancer. It has been 10 years since her surgery.

The PA told The New York Post: “I’m so relieved that the issue is finally getting the attention it deserves. In 2013, I, too, sued Johnson & Johnson, and a federal jury found that its body powder products were a factor in my condition. Although I was surprised that the jury awarded me zero damages—South Dakota is a very conservative state, and there had to be a unanimous verdict on whether any compensation should be paid—it was never about the money. Earlier I had turned down a $1.3 million out-of-court settlement because I didn’t want to sign a confidentiality clause.” She said she believes her “case paved the way for plaintiff lawyers to bring claims for hundreds of women who blame their ovarian cancer on exposure to talcum powder. As my lawyer said, I’m the equivalent of the first smokers who sued tobacco companies because of their lung cancer. The pioneers didn’t receive compensation, but the dangers and the conspiracy were finally exposed.”

For those diagnosed with ovarian or endometrial cancer following feminine use of Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder, Shower to Shower products, or other talcum powder products, there may be valuable legal rights. Please visit Parker Waichman’s Talcum Cancer Injury page today or call the firm’s Talcum Cancer Injury attorneys at 1-800-LAW-INFO (1-800-529-4636).