LINCOLN – Nebraska Attorney General Hilgers and 42 other attorneys general reached a $700 million nationwide settlement to resolve allegations related to the marketing of Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder and body powder products that contained talc.
The settlement addresses allegations that Johnson & Johnson deceptively promoted and misled consumers in advertisements related to the safety and purity of some of its talc powder products. As part of the lawsuit, Johnson & Johnson has agreed to stop the manufacture and sale of its baby powder and body powder products that contain talc in the United States.
Johnson & Johnson sold these products for over a hundred years. After the coalition of states began investigating, the company stopped distributing and selling these products in the United States and, more recently, ended global sales. While this lawsuit targeted Johnson and Johnson’s deceptive marketing, other lawsuits raised allegations that talc causes serious health issues, including mesothelioma and ovarian cancer.
The settlement agreement requires Johnson & Johnson to stop manufacturing, marketing, promoting, selling, and distributing all baby and body powder products and cosmetic powder products that contain talcum powder, including Johnson’s Baby Powder and Johnson & Johnson’s Shower to Shower in the United States.
As part of the settlement, Nebraska will receive just over five million dollars. This settlement is pending judicial approval.
Texas, Florida, and North Carolina led the multistate settlement, with Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin joining.
