(Wednesday, July 28, 2021) – Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump is taking on Johnson & Johnson. Crump has filed a lawsuit against J & J on behalf of members of the National Council of Negro Women.

The suit accuses the company of marketing its talcum powder products to Black women since the 1990s while knowing those products could cause cancer. 

“I would be remiss if I did not say exactly what this lawsuit is about.  It is about the lives of our grandmothers, our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our nieces, and our wives; and how they were sinisterly targeted by Johnson & Johnson,” Crump said at a news conference.

Several of the women spoke at the Tuesday press conference detailing their families’ use of the Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products.  Lydia Huston spoke about how her mother died in 2014 of ovarian cancer.  “We had a routine and it involved hygiene, a very clean home, and a very clean body.   And just like deodorant, soap, lotion, and toothpaste; talcum powder was a part of the daily routine that she had for over 30 years,” said Huston.

Johnson & Johnson has denied that its baby powder product causes cancer.  Last year, an appellate court in Missouri upheld more than $2 billion in damages against J&J saying they company knew there was asbestos in its baby powder.