Doctors Who Linked Talc to Cancer Have Been Sued by Johnson & Johnson

In a surprising development of the already complex situation surrounding Johnson and Johnson, the company has recently sued four doctors responsible for linking talc to cancer in their published studies. Here’s what you need to know about this latest development in the growing controversy surrounding Johnson and Johnson- and how this could change the legal trajectory that the company currently faces.

If you believe that you were exposed to asbestos, even as a child, speak to a healthcare provider about tests and screening to help diagnose lung-scarring and screen for asbestos-related diseases.

Why is Johnson & Johnson suing doctors?

Johnson and Johnson is the latest and greatest corporation to face a serious range of lawsuits in the aftermath of ongoing asbestos exposure research, specifically in relation to their talc baby powder products. But how the company has responded to these claims has been unexpected and unpredictable, to say the least.

“All forms of asbestos are carcinogenic to humans.”¹

A lot at stake in asbestos litigation

There is no question that Johnson and Johnson has historic examples such as Johns-Manville in mind when they consider what kind of outcome they might face in relation to their products, especially if they come out on the losing side of legal proceedings.

That’s because Johns-Manville was both the largest manufacturer of asbestos products in the United States, as well as the first of hundreds of thousands of personal injury lawsuits related to asbestos exposure. And that’s what makes the latest turn of events regarding Johnson and Johnson so interesting.

“Some asbestos fibers may bypass…your body’s natural defenses…and lodge deep within your lungs. Those fibers can remain in place for a very long time and may never be removed.”

Source: American Lung Association

Restructure Before Retreat

Not wanting to face the same financial ruin that other corporations have faced, Johnson and Johnson recently devised a legal workaround of the liability they could face from injury lawsuits related to their products. This legal workaround is a corporate merger under Texas law that has been referred to as the Texas Two-Step.

What is the Texas Two-Step?

In its most basic sense, the Texas Two-Step provides certain bankruptcy laws that allow a corporation to merge, or more properly, to divide into multiple entities. However, this provision has allowed for the unintended outcome of Johnson and Johnson to do the following:

• Johnson and Johnson form the subsidiary LTL Management LLC (2021)
• Johnson and Johnson transfer all asbestos injury claims to LTL Management
• LTL Management files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

This is not the first example of the Texas Two Step in asbestos litigation, but it does signal that the intention is for Johnson and Johnson to escape injury lawsuits and establish an asbestos trust fund instead.

More importantly, this action from Johnson and Johnson has had the effect of derailing, or at least halting, all the current lawsuits against the company. Those who look at the actions of the company claim that this is a deceptive way to silence suffering customers of their products by escaping liability.

“Generally, those who develop asbestos-related diseases show no signs of illness for a long time after exposure.”

Source: National Cancer Institute (NIH)²

Johnson Johnson: Turning from the Defensive to the Offensive

But that’s just the beginning. The most recent move by Johnson and Johnson has been much more aggressive than simply trying to avoid liability or deny the claims that their popular talc baby powder used for decades by millions of customers contained asbestos as a contaminant.

Instead, they have interred into the litigation process as plaintiffs, suing doctors who have published research that links talc to cancer.

Asbestos fibers have no taste or smell.

You may not know you’re breathing them.

Johnson and Johnson suing asbestos health researchers to attack their claims that talc can contain harmful asbestos.

To understand this research, it is worth stepping back to see how talc relates to asbestos. Talcum powder, like asbestos, is a natural mineral that is used for a variety of applications. One of the most popular examples of talc use is in the makeup/cosmetic industry. The problem is, talc and asbestos can often be co-occurring minerals.

This means that when talc is mined, there is a possibility that it can be contaminated with trace amounts of asbestos fibers. To make matters worse, while talc is required to be refined in order to remove these trace elements, there is no strict regulation by the federal government that absolutely guarantees a talc-based product is free from asbestos.

The health risks of asbestos exposure can include:

Johnson & Johnson’s own study revealed the dangers of asbestos in its talc products.

To make matters worse for Johnson and Johnson, the company actually funded a 1971 study that injected prisoners with asbestos in order to compare asbestos and talc skin exposure. Many wonder why there would be any motivation for a company that produces talc baby powder to fund such a study, unless they were aware of trace elements of asbestos in their products.

“The overall evidence suggests there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.”

Source: National Cancer Institute (NIH)³

LTL on the Offensive

With that very complex history in mind, LTL Management filed a lawsuit on July 7, 2023, against Drs. Moline, Emory, Kradin, and Maddox for their published research linking talcum products like Johnson and Johnson’s baby powder to mesothelioma and other cancers.

The argument against these researchers made by LTL is that their findings were based on misinformation and their findings ought not to be relied upon, since all four doctors have “made careers and small fortunes from testifying on behalf of the mass tor asbestos plaintiffs’ bar”.

In other words, their research should be viewed as a conflict of interest, since these individuals stand to gain from advancing the narrative that Johnson and Johnson’s baby powder can be linked to cancer.

Asbestos causes cancer. Health researchers are learning how.

Studies show that asbestos fibers embed in the bodily tissue:

• Causing scarring
• Disrupting the body’s defense mechanisms
• Increasing formation of free-radicals (electrical charges known to increase the likelihood of cancer)
• Harming DNA that controls cellular growth, potentially leading to the formation of carcinomas (cancerous tumors)

What could this mean for doctors and those harmed by asbestos-tainted talc products?

This is an interesting strategy from Johnson and Johnson since the company insists that their talc products do not contain asbestos and there is no verifiable link between using their products and getting cancer. However, plaintiffs who have developed mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, and other cancers have all claimed that they used Johnson and Johnson talc baby powder as infants or adults with no other verifiable exposure to asbestos.

Will Johnson & Johnson’s lawsuit against doctors be successful?

All in all, it remains to be seen how this will shape the current litigation troubles of Johnson and Johnson. The company has made some interesting moves, starting with the denial of asbestos in their talc products, the removal of talc baby powder from their product line, the transfer of liability to LTL, and now, going on the offensive to discredit the findings of these researchers who have provided the standard case studies that would undoubtedly be used in future litigation against Johnson and Johnson.

While current litigation and payout are essentially halted during the bankruptcy maneuver, this litigation on behalf of the company can certainly hurt its public image. It is never good for a company to seek escape from liability while simultaneously going after researchers who could be used against them in litigation down the road, especially since they have been used in prior litigation.

Have you Been Exposed to Asbestos? Reach Out Today

The Johnson and Johnson situation continues to become more complex, but that doesn’t mean that you should avoid seeking the compensation you need. If you have been exposed to asbestos and have contracted a disease or illness, reach out to our experts today for a risk-free approach to getting you the compensation you need!

1 IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Arsenic, metals, fibres, and dusts. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. 2012 ;100(Pt C):11-465. PMID: 23189751.

2 National Cancer Institute (NIH), Asbestos Fact Sheet.

3 National Cancer Institute (NIH), Asbestos Fact Sheet.