Johnson & Johnson has sued four doctors who published studies citing links between talc-based personal care products and cancer, escalating an attack on scientific studies that the company alleges are inaccurate.
J&J's subsidiary LTL Management, which absorbed the company's talc liability in a controversial 2021 spinoff, last week filed a lawsuit in New Jersey federal court asking it to force three researchers to "retract and/or issue a correction" of a study that said asbestos-contaminated consumer talc products sometimes caused patients to develop mesothelioma.
One of the researchers, Richard Kradin, declined to comment. The other two, Theresa Emory and John Maddox, did not respond to requests for comment. Lawyers who have represented the three researchers in similar litigation in the past declined to comment.
J&J is facing more than 38,000 lawsuits alleging that the company's talc products, including its Baby Powder, were contaminated by asbestos and caused cancers including ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. J&J is attempting to resolve those lawsuits, as well as any future talc lawsuits, through an $8.9 billion settlement in bankruptcy court.
J&J says that its talc products are safe and do not contain asbestos.
J&J has stopped selling talc-based Baby Powder in favor of cornstarch-based products, citing an increase in lawsuits and "misinformation" about the talc product's safety.
The company in 2021 began exploring bankruptcy as a potential solution to the lawsuits, which saw a mixed record at trial, including several defense wins but also a $2.1 billion verdict awarded to 22 women who blamed their ovarian cancer on asbestos in the company's talc products. J&J said in bankruptcy court filings in April that the costs of its talc-related verdicts, settlements and legal fees have reached about $4.5 billion.
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