Louisville residents may have heard how Johnson & Johnson is facing numerous lawsuits from consumers who were diagnosed with mesothelioma: a rare and aggressive cancer caused by asbestos exposure. The plaintiffs allege that regular use of the corporation's talc-based baby powder, which was found to contain the mineral, led to their developing the cancer.
One of the most recent in the long line of victims is a 64-year-old native of Hawaii. She was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in February 2019 and filed a civil lawsuit in the Honolulu Circuit Court in November 2019. The defendants named in the lawsuit are Johnson & Johnson and the supermarket chain that sold the baby powder. The latter is being blamed because under product liability law, it had a duty not to sell unsafe products.