The National Council of Negro Women filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson in the Superior Court of New Jersey July 27. The organization alleges the company's baby powder advertising targeted Black women despite knowing the talc-based products were unsafe.
"We are pursuing litigation against Johnson & Johnson regarding the marketing of the company's talcum-based powder products to Black women, despite links to ovarian cancers," the organization said in a tweet.
Five details:
1. The lawsuit alleges a large proportion of the organization's members have used J&J's powder products and have developed ovarian cancer. It does not specify a monetary amount in damages.
2. The company's Baby Powder and Shower to Shower products are specifically named in the lawsuit. "For years, J&J marketed and sold these talc-based products as safe for consumers and urged their daily use to control sweat and body odor and protect users' skin.
"Internal documents demonstrate that J&J targeted those advertisements to Black women, knowing that Black women were more likely to use the powder products and to use them regularly. These talc powder products were not safe, however."
3. The organization is suing J&J for negligence in its product design and marketing, failure to warn customers about the potential hazards linked to its products and consumer fraud.
4. Johnson & Johnson denies the allegations: "The accusations being made against our company are false, and the idea that our company would purposefully and systematically target a community with bad intentions is unreasonable and absurd," the company said in a statement sent to CBS News.
5. The company no longer sells the baby powder product and has allocated nearly $4 billion for settling future lawsuits related to talcum powder, CBS reports.