A FATHER who lost his wife to ovarian cancer is among thousands who could sue one of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies over its alleged "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.
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.
Jeffrey Wright, 75, from Rayleigh, 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.”
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.
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."
Lawyers at KP Law 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.
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