When Michelle Germaine was diagnosed with epithelial mesothelioma in February of 2017, it was too late for her to stop using Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder. The 60-year-old woman had been using talc-based powders since she was a girl in Haiti, and had continued that practice once she immigrated to the United States in 1971, at which point she began using Johnson’s Baby Powder exclusively. She used the product throughout her life, then applied it to her two daughters when they were children in the 1980s: in her testimony she recalled that she liked the smell of the powder and would use so much of it that the air would get dusty and she would breath it in. Mrs. Germaine died of her illness soon after being diagnosed. Her husband and daughters are now joining tens of thousands of other cancer victims who are accusing Johnson & Johnson’s of having hidden the fact that the popular talc product was contaminated with asbestos.
Johnson & Johnson’s Continues To Argue Against Cancer Responsibility
Johnson & Johnson’s has continued to deny its responsibility for the many mesothelioma deaths and deaths from ovarian cancer that it has been accused of. In the Supreme Court of New York County the company asked Judge Manuel J. Mendez to dismiss Mrs. Germaine’s family’s case, just as they have asked courts across the country to do, arguing that there is no proof that their product was responsible for the deaths. But that argument has grown weaker as more and more victims have come forward: there are over 10,000 cases pending in courts throughout the United States, and a heavily researched report published recently by Reuters provides significant evidence to support the theory that the company’s product was contaminated with the carcinogenic material, as well as that the company’s scientists and executives were well aware of the risk that it posed, and worked assiduously to keep the information from becoming public knowledge.
Victims Continue to Come Forward
Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos. Exposure to the carcinogenic mineral was once almost exclusively associated with occupational exposure, but as more and more victims are coming forward after exposure to baby powder and other talc products, concerns of a new wave of the disease are rising. If you have been diagnosed with this disease and need information, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
