WIKIMEDIA, MATERIALSCIENTISTLast week, jurors in Missouri concluded that Johnson & Johnson bore some responsibility in the death of Jackie Fox, who died of ovarian cancer. Fox’s family was awarded $72 million in a case against the pharmaceutical behemoth because, the jurors said, Johnson & Johnson failed to disclose that its talc-based feminine hygiene powder carried an ovarian-cancer risk.
“The message that was spoken loud and clear came from the jury last week,” Ted Meadows, an attorney with Beasley Allen—the firm that represented Fox’s family—told The Scientist. “They’re telling J & J it’s time to either remove talc from the market or allow women to make an informed choice by putting a warning on the bottle.”
Yet, according to the company, the jurors’ decision was not rooted in evidence. “The recent jury outcome goes against decades of sound science proving the safety of talc as a cosmetic ingredient in multiple products,” Johnson & Johnson said in a statement sent to The Scientist.
The truth, it appears, lies somewhere in between. Epidemiologic studies have produced mixed results, though many have found a slight increase in ...
