Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to settle a lawsuit about its marketing tactics. (Courtesy of Ellen Rosenblum)
Oregon will receive $15 million from Johnson & Johnson to settle allegations that the pharmaceutical and medical company marketed unsafe baby powder products to consumers.
The settlement is part of a national $700 million agreement that 43 attorneys general made with the New Jersey-based company. It’s tied to allegations that Johnson & Johnson sold baby powder and body powder products with talc, which plaintiffs alleged is linked to serious health problems that include ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer tied to asbestos exposure.
As part of the settlement, Johnson & Johnson admitted no wrongdoing, court documents show. But Johnson & Johnson stopped distributing and selling the baby powder products, sold for more than a century, when states started investigating.
“For decades, Johnson & Johnson misled consumers about the potential harms of its talc powder products,” Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a statement . “Worse, they doubled down on the safety of those products, attacked credible scientific studies, refused to include warning labels on their products, and, at every turn, put profits ahead of lives. These decisions overwhelmingly harmed women.”
As part of the agreement, Johnson & Johnson agreed to stop manufacturing and selling its baby powder and other products that contain talc in the U.S.. The lawsuit also alleged the company targeted African American and Hispanic women in its marketing efforts to reverse declining sales.
Four organizations will receive $4.7 million of the settlement’s proceeds for women’s health programs.
Planned Parenthood will receive $4 million, with $2 million for Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette in Portland and $2 million for Planned Parenthood Southwestern Oregon in Eugene.
The two groups will use the money for outreach and access to health care, with an eye on eliminating disparities among marginalized communities.
Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, which provides care for nearly 52,000 patients in Yamhill and Washington counties, will receive about $350,000 to increase access to ultrasounds for ovarian cancer screenings and offer more Hepatitis B vaccines.
The Oregon Health & Science University Foundation will receive $275,000 for outreach and cancer screenings for tribal communities.
And finally, the Ovarian Cancer Alliance of Oregon and Southwest Washington will get $55,750 to aid patients with ovarian cancer.
The remaining $10.3 million will go to an Oregon Department of Justice fund that the agency has discretion to use in different ways for its work, court records show. The department’s fund helps pay for various investigative, consumer protection and consumer education efforts.
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