Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies Inc.; Imerys Talc America Inc.; and unknown businesses and/or corporations A-Z were also named as defendants in the suit.
Ann Christine Underwood used Johnson’s Baby Powder to dust her perineum for feminine hygiene purposes from approximately 1965 until her death in 2016, believing that the practice was safe, according to a complaint filed Nov. 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
Amy F. Darnold claims Underwood’s use was intended and foreseeable based on the advertising, marketing and labeling of the product by the defendants.
Underwood developed ovarian cancer and was diagnosed in November 2014 with Stage IIIC ovarian cancer as a result of the unreasonably dangerous and defective nature of talcum powder and the defendants’ wrongful and negligent conduct in the research, development, testing, manufacture, production, promotion, distribution, marketing and sale of talcum powder, according to the suit.
Darnold claims Underwood died on March 21, as a result of the ovarian cancer.
The defendants’ product was defective in failing to contain clear and concise warnings and/or instructions on the box regarding the risk of applying the powder to the perineal area; failing to include clear and concise warnings and/or instructions in the powder’s advertisements; failing to alert the public of the specific dangers of talcum powder application to a woman’s perineal area; and breaching express warranties and/or failing to conform to express factual representations, according to the suit.
Darnold claims the defendants were negligent and caused Underwood’s wrongful death.
Darnold is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. She is being represented by John D. Hurst and Carmen S. Scott of Motley Rice; and Holly L. Deihl of Goldberg Persky & White.
The case is assigned to District Judge Irene Keeley.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number: 1:16-cv-00225