J&J's Appeal To Drop Mississippi’s Talc Lawsuit Rejected

Introduction

On Thursday, Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's decision, rejecting Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) appeal to drop a case brought by the state's attorney general over mislabeling of talcum powder products.

According to the opinion dated April 1, the state's highest court concluded that the claims filed against the company were not preempted and were not prohibited under the Mississippi Consumer Protection Act.

The lawsuit is remanded back to Hinds County Chancery Court and the center of the lawsuit is the question of whether J&J should be required to add warnings on their labels over the use of talc products and should the state require it under the Mississippi statute.

The lawsuit was filed in 2014 against J&J, claiming that the company used unlawful, unfair, and deceptive business practices, violating state law by failing to disclose the risk of ovarian cancer on two product labels. The two products named in the lawsuit were Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower, which are alleged to contain large quantities of talc powder contaminated with asbestos.

The attorney general is seeking an injunction requiring the company to include warnings on its labeling along with a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation of the act.

The company argued that the chancery court should have granted a summary judgment as the state law does not apply to products regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or Federal Trade Commission Act. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the FDA has chosen to not exercise its regulatory authority and has allowed the states to regulate cosmetics instead.

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