'My wife died from ovarian cancer - talcum powder was to blame'

The husband of an Essex woman who sadly died from ovarian cancer is considering suing a talcum powder company after alleging that it caused the cancer. Thousands of women could sue one of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies after using its "cancer-causing" talcum powder. Lawyers working on behalf of cancer victims and their relatives are launching a group action against Johnson & Johnson (J&J), the biggest seller of talcum powder.

KP Law has issued a letter to the firm, which has until the end of the year to respond before documents will be filed in the High Court. It comes amid growing fears asbestos in its products allegedly gave them ovarian cancer. If it proceeds, the legal action would be the first of its kind brought against the pharmaceutical multinational in the UK.

And with around 2,000 potential claimants, including cancer patients, survivors and families, lawyers say it could be the largest of its kind in UK history. J&J denies suppressing any information and denies any links between its baby powder, asbestos and cancer. But one man from Essex claimed his wife sadly died as a result of using talc all over her body.

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Jeffrey Wright, 75, from Rayleigh in Essex, lost his wife Maureen to ovarian cancer in 1991, leaving behind her three young sons Robert, Richard and Michael. He said: “Maureen was so full of life. Even now, it’s hard to believe that she is gone.

"She was only 17 years old when we met. I used to joke when she married me that I was punching above my weight. I miss her every day, but her death devastated the boys. Talc had always been a feature in our home — Maureen would use it all over her body and I vividly remember the taste and smell of it on my lips after kissing her.

“We had no idea why she developed ovarian cancer, it just seemed one of those tragically unlucky things, but when the news started coming out about the link between talc and cancer it started to ring alarm bells. I think it’s really important that we do something to hold the manufacturers to account over this. They knew that the powder contained asbestos and could be dangerous, and they did nothing about it. Now we’re the ones paying the price.”

Tom Longstaff, a partner at KP Law, said the matter would be "yet another example of a trusted corporation putting profits before consumer safety". He said: “All of the claimants, predominantly women but also some men, who have sustained cancer after using J&J’s talcum powder products have experienced a life-changing illness.

"In some cases, they have died from their cancer, leaving their families devastated. All of these innocent individuals deserve justice. This once-trusted corporation knew for decades that the asbestos in its talc products was present, that it was dangerous, but did nothing to notify consumers of the risk. We are committed to helping as many people as possible achieve justice in the UK for the actions of profit-hungry executives in US boardrooms.”

The firm say there are thousands of women in the UK who will have been diagnosed with cancers which have been identified as being linked to the use of talcum powder. Sharon Doherty, 57, of Derry, Northern Ireland, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer on the left side, and fallopian cancer on the right side, in 2020.

She underwent surgery and six months of chemotherapy, but has recently been given the devastating news the cancer has come back and is undergoing further treatment. She said: “I have always made an effort to live a healthy life. I eat well, I exercise. I prioritise my wellbeing. I don’t fit the criteria of someone who has cancer. It’s been very difficult to come to terms with the diagnosis, and the treatment and side effects have been very intense. I just never really got my energy back.”

Sharon says her mum would the talcum powder on her as a child after a bath and she herself went onto use it on her body for most of her life. She added: "I continued to do so as I got older. I grew up in Northern Ireland during the troubles and there wasn’t much to do to keep us entertained, but we did have a local swimming baths. I remember using the talc whenever I would come out of the water to dry us off. It’s just what we did. Never did we think that it would have such a devastating impact.”

Lawyers at the firm argue the pharmaceutical giants knew for decades about the presence of asbestos in its talcum powder and failed to act. The products were sold in the UK until as recently as 2022. Another potential claimant, Linda Jones, 66, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in November 2023 after using the firm's talc well into her 20s. Now, doctors have told her that she may only have a few years to live.

inda, a company director from North Devon, said: “We all used talc, without exception. My mother used it on me when I was a baby in the 50s, and I kept using it for years after. We just trusted what the adverts said and believed it was a good product. When I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it never occurred to me that it could have been as a result of asbestos exposure, until I started reading about the legal action in America. Suddenly, it all made a lot of sense.

“My children will lose their mother, I may never even meet my first grandchild, and my husband and I have been robbed of our retirement together after just six years of marriage. But I am also bitter and very angry. If there was any suggestion whatsoever that the talcum powder would cause harm to not only women, but small babies, it should have been taken off the market. It makes you wonder how many other women who have already died may have been exposed. I want answers, and for someone to be held to account for what has happened to me and so many others.”

Cassandra Wardle, of Alfreton, Derbyshire, was also diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2022, aged just 44. After a challenging seven-hour operation and chemotherapy, she was told the cancer had spread throughout her lungs and chest and was told she only had months to live.

But, after medical trials, later tests produced a more positive prognosis and she completed her treatment in August 2022. Despite the positive prognosis, recent blood tests found her red cells count is elevated and her immune system is also compromised.

And having suffered with tonsillitis in February 2024, she has yet to regain her voice, meaning she has had to leave her part time job at the hospital. She said: “My diagnosis had a huge impact on every single aspect of my life. At the time of diagnosis, I was running a small business making bath and body products. I tried to keep it going but I was so ill and exhausted by the treatment, I eventually had no choice but to close the unit and make staff redundant.

“Because I was self-employed, I had no access to any government support. There are no benefits for people like me. I took a part time job at the hospital after I completed by treatment, but they had to let me go as I have lost my voice. I want to know why Johnson and Johnson didn’t change the ingredients of the talcum powder when they knew that it was dangerous. Why did they carry on selling it, putting so many thousands of lives at risk? What they have done is nothing short of despicable.”

The firm has already set aside more than $6bn to settle ovarian cancer cases in the US with a further $4bn for people diagnosed with mesothelioma. And in July, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified talc as "probably carcinogenic" for humans.

Erik Haas worldwide vice-president of litigation for Johnson & Johnson, said the allegations against the company "defy logic, rewrite history and ignore the facts". He said: “Johnson & Johnson takes the issue of talc safety incredibly seriously and always has.

"As our documents show, we have relied upon the most state-of-the-art testing protocols for decades and have been entirely transparent with government institutions and academic researchers regarding our findings. Those findings uniformly show the absence of asbestos contamination in Johnson’s Baby Powder and the talc sourced for Johnson’s Baby Powder. Independent science makes clear that talc is not associated with the risk of ovarian cancer nor mesothelioma."