On June 1, 2021, the United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) of a Missouri court verdict that had awarded $2.1 billion to claimants who had contracted cancer from J&J’s baby powder. The legal manoeuvrings are over and the facts are clear for everyone to see: the use of J&J’s asbestos- contaminated talc-based baby powder sold globally for decades can be deadly. This product was withdrawn from sale in North America last year (2020), but continues to be marketed elsewhere.
We condemn the continued sale of this product in markets outside North America. In light of the Supreme Court ruling, we urge decision-makers, politicians, government agencies and consumer organizations in every country where this product is being sold to think again. Johnson & Johnson does not care for the health of your citizens; its top priority is corporate profits. Despite the fact that a safer J&J alternative baby powder product exists – cornstarch-based baby powder – toxic talc remains on the shelves of supermarkets and drug stores in India, China, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, the UK and elsewhere. As groups which mobilize support for asbestos victims at home and abroad and which fight for global action on the asbestos hazard, we are as one when we urge you, on the grounds of public safety, to order a mandatory product recall of J&J talc-based baby powder and issue guidelines forbidding its sale in your country at the earliest opportunity.