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| Johnson & Johnson's Baby Powder |
As
you may know, Black women in the United States have been suing
Johnson & Johnson over revelations that the company promoted its
baby powder heavily in the Black community. More than 1,000 women
are currently suing J & J.
Many
Black women, my mother included, sprinkled baby powder or other
talcum-based powder in their panties every day for reasons of
hygiene.
Johnson
& Johnson have profited from targeting their baby powder at Black
women despite the fact that it has been known since the 1970s that there is a link between talcum powder, the main ingredient of Johnson & Johnson baby powder, and ovarian
cancer. I have known this for many years, as has J&J. For many
Black women, the repeated use of talcum powder has been a death sentence.
One
woman, Jacqueline Fox, won $72 million in a lawsuit against Johnson &Johnson, but unfortunately, she did not live to see the result.
See
also: Johnson & Johnson Reportedly Pushed Talcum Powder on Black Women. There are loads of stories like this online at the moment.
Add
to this the fact that Black men and women often present late with a
range of cancers. I explored this in my chapter on Cancer Black Care
in Black Success Stories. For more about this, see my Cancer Journal 12.
As
a survivor of ovarian cancer (which was NOT related to use of talcum
powder), this is obviously affecting me deeply. I fought to get to
see the doctor I wanted and he eventually diagnosed the cancer,
before it even had any symptoms.
Early
diagnosis is crucial. Patients who are diagnosed early have a 90%
chance of survival, but this drops to just 20% with late diagnosis.
If
you have any concerns at all, please, please get yourself checked
out.
Plus
did you know that Black women with fibroids have a higher risk of endometrial cancer?
Please share this with your networks and please leave your comments below. Thanks.
