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The company announced the move in a statement on Tuesday, noting that it had decided to \u201cpermanently discontinue\u201d the baby powder in the US and Canada to \u201cprioritize high-demand products\u201d amid the Covid-19 pandemic, attributing the fall in sales in part to \u201cmisinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDemand for talc-based Johnson\u2019s Baby Powder in North America has been declining due in large part to changes in consumer habits and fueled by misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage of litigation advertising,\u201d the company said, adding that it would also stop selling around 100 other items in addition to the powder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Johnson & Johnson insists it is \u201csteadfastly confident\u201d in the safety of its talc-based baby powder, vowing to \u201cvigorously defend the product\u201d from \u201cunfounded allegations,\u201d the company has faced a flurry of lawsuits from customers over the years alleging the powder contains cancer-causing agents like asbestos. Though the firm has emerged victorious from some of the suits, it has also been forced to pay out massive sums to plaintiffs in others, such as a case last February in which it was ordered to shell out $750 million to four cancer patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deeming the decision a \u201cvictory for public health,\u201d the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization slammed Johnson & Johnson for being slow to act and misleading customers, while calling on Congress to \u201cban asbestos once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAmericans should be able to trust they are safe from asbestos. Johnson & Johnson [J&J] spent decades misleading the public to think their often asbestos-contaminated baby powder was safe when they knew it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
was not,\u201dsaid the group\u2019s president, Linda Reinstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite some consumer safety advocates hailing the move as a win, however, the controversial product will continue to be sold \u201cin other markets around the world,\u201d Johson & Johnson said, where demand for the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
powder remains high and lawsuits are less common. The decision has left the company\u2019s critics irked, some asking whether the world population beyond North America is \u201cexpendable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n