A North Yarmouth widower is suing Johnson and Johnson and its subsidiary Red River Talc for $25 million after his wife contracted mesothelioma and died.
The Press Herald reports the lawsuit, filed in Cumberland County, says the woman’s death was a direct result of her use of what it calls “unreasonably dangerous and defective talcum powder”
The lawsuit claims Andrew Curtin’s wife ingested asbestos, which caused the mesothelioma from the Johnson & Johnson products.
The woman was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2017 and died four days later.
A Connecticut man won a $15 million judgment against Johnson & Johnson in October after he said the products “used over the course of decades ” caused his mesothelioma, according to a Reuters news report.
Drugwatch reports that a pause on talc ovarian cancer litigation will remain in place into March as J & J subsidiary Red River Talc’s bankruptcy proceedings continue. Talc ovarian cancer lawsuits have been stayed since September as J&J has worked to complete its $8 billion settlement to resolve thousands of ovarian cancer lawsuits. Red River Talc filed for bankruptcy in September as well.
People filing talcum powder lawsuits claim they were diagnosed with cancer after using talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder. Currently, more than 57,000 cancer lawsuits still remain pending in federal litigation, according to Drugwatch.
Johnson & Johnson issued a recall of 33,000 bottles of Baby Powder in 2019 after testing found asbestos in samples. Retail sales of the product were halted in May of 2020. J&J continues to deny any liability and insists it did not sell cancer-causing products.
In 2023, J & J switched to a cornstarch-based alternative and discontinued worldwide sales of its talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder.
