J&J Talcum Powder Users Can’t Revive Asbestos Deceptive Ad Suit

Consumers failed to revive a proposed class action accusing a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary and Bausch Health US LLC of misrepresenting talcum powder products containing asbestos as safe, the Ninth Circuit said Monday.

The consumers alleged the companies’ talcum baby powder and Shower to Shower body powder products were unsafe because they contained asbestos, which can cause health problems like cancer. Though the operative complaint was “littered” with descriptions of various advertisements, many of them were “unrelated” to the talcum products targeted by the lawsuit, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said in an unpublished opinion affirming ...