A container of Johnson's Baby powder, by multinational company Johnson & Johnson. File Photo by Dan Peled/EPA
May 19 (UPI) -- Pharmaceutical behemoth Johnson & Johnson announced Tuesday it will no longer sell its talc-based Baby Powder in the United States or Canada following years of litigation over claims the product causes cancer.
In a statement Tuesday, the company said the controversial product's discontinuation followed it ceasing the shipping of hundreds of products to the two countries to prioritize high-demand items and allow for social distancing in its manufacturing and shipping facilities amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The product, it said, represented only 0.5 percent of its total U.S. consumer health business, and demand for the product has declined due to changing consumer habits "fueled by misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage of litigation advertising."
The talc-based Baby Powder has been at the center of thousands of legal cases over the years due to claims it contains deadly carcinogen asbestos linked to ovarian cancer. U.S. judges have awarded hundreds of millions of dollars to women who blamed the product for their illnesses.
However, all the cases that have gone through the appeal process have been overturned, the company said.
Johnson & Johnson denied the accusations and in the statement on Tuesday reiterated its commitment to the product.
"Johnson & Johnson remains steadfastly confident in the safety of talc-based Johnson's Baby Powder. Decades of scientific studies by medical experts around the world support the safety of our product. We will continue to vigorously defend the product, its safety and the unfounded allegations against it and the company in the courtroom," it said.
The company will "wind down" the commercialization of the product in the United States and Canada over the next few months, it said, and existing inventory will be sold through retailers until it runs out.
Corn-starched Baby Powder will continue to be sold in the two countries while both products will be present in other markers.
