In the original case heard in the state of Missouri, a jury initially awarded the women $4.7 billion, but a state appeals court dropped two plaintiffs from the suit and reduced the award to $2 billion. The jury found that the healthcare group’s talc products contain asbestos and that asbestos-laced talc can cause ovarian cancer. J&J denies both the claim that its talc contains asbestos and that it causes cancer.

In the Supreme Court filing, the company, which is facing more than 21,800 lawsuits, had argued that it was not treated fairly, as the women all came from different states and backgrounds and should not have been able to pursue joint action.

J&J stopped selling the talc-based powder in the US and Canada a year ago, replacing it with a cornstarch formulation. In other jurisdictions, including Europe, it continues to sell both formulations. In a statement made when changing the North American formula, the producer said demand had declined due to “misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage of litigation advertising.”

One of the most prominent lawyers for the women benefiting from the state court’s award judgment was Kenneth Starr, who pursued the investigation against former president Bill Clinton that led to his 1998 impeachment.

J&J’s Covid vaccine rollout under a cloud

Elsewhere, J&J is also under pressure. Safety concerns about its Covid-19 vaccine along with overall sagging demand for vaccinations have slowed its US rollout to a crawl, Reuters reports. This means, it said, that almost half of the 21 million doses produced for the US are going unused. The reasons are said to be fears over blood clots and the growing reluctance in parts of the population to get vaccinated.

Demand for all Covid vaccines has slowed since mid-April, but the drop has been “significantly steeper for the J&J shot,” Reuters said. In the week ended May 25, fewer than 650,000 people nationwide received this shot, which accounted for only 5% of total vaccinations administered. According to data published by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this compares with nearly 3 million in the week before the health agency paused vaccinations with it in order to review clotting issues.

Similar to the situation in Europe with AstraZeneca, which also has been dogged by safety issues, Americans appear to be rejecting the J&J shot in droves. The company told Reuters it is working with the US government and health authorities to support use of its vaccine. Authorities worry, however, that some of the doses could expire unused at a time when global demand for any Covid-19 vaccine is high. The suspension has a three-month shelf life.

J&J’s doses will be among the 25 million donated by the US in the initial tranche of a planned 80 million dose donation, although its share has not been publicly quantified. The first shipment could go out as early as this week and would not contain any AstraZeneca doses, Washington said. Altogether 75% of the US donation will be routed through the World Health Organization’s COVAX program.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist