J&J beats lawsuit alleging that talc caused three women's cancer

NEW YORK - A Los Angeles jury on Friday sided with Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit by the families of three women who alleged that the company's talc products caused ovarian cancer, finding that J&J was not negligent when selling cosmetic talc products.

• The lawsuit was filed by the families of Mary Owens, Bonnie Tienken and Geneva Williams, who each died of ovarian cancer after using talc-based baby powder.

• More than 67,000 plaintiffs have sued J&J, alleging that its baby powder and other talc products cause ovarian cancer.

• J&J has won some cases outright, including an Oklahoma trial last week, but juries have awarded large verdicts for plaintiffs in other cases.

• J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product.

• The case was based on "junk science," said Erik Haas, J&J's vice president of litigation.

• The verdict is "disappointing," said lawyer Ari Friedman, who represented one of the plaintiffs.

• J&J has settled a majority of cases alleging that its products caused mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer associated with asbestos.

• Nearly all of the remaining cases allege that talc products cause ovarian cancer.

(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Sergio Non.)

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This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 2:16 AM.