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Attorneys general from Maine and 42 other states reached a $700 million nationwide settlement with Johnson & Johnson for allegations of deceptive marketing of baby powder and body powder products.
While this lawsuit brought forth by a coalition of states targeted the deceptive marketing of talc powder products, there were others filed by private plaintiffs alleging that talc causes serious health issues such as cancer and mesothelioma. The judgment in the lawsuit from the attorneys general addresses allegations that the company misled consumers in advertisements about the safety and purity of the products, according to a news release from the Office of the Maine Attorney General on Tuesday.
“While deceiving consumers about the safety of a product is deplorable, it is particularly egregious that the unsafe product at issue was primarily marketed for babies,” said Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey.
As part of the settlement, Maine will receive more than $4.8 million; however, the agreement is pending judicial approval, the release says.
As part of the lawsuit, Johnson & Johnson has agreed to stop the manufacture and sale of its baby and body powder products that contain talc in the United States.
Those products had been sold for a century, the release says, but the company stopped distributing and selling them domestically and globally after the coalition of state AGs began investigating.
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