BBC Hundreds of women in the UK are planning to take on one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies over alleged links between talc and cancer.Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021, Cassandra Wardle is one of the women launching a group action against the biggest seller of talcum powder, Johnson & Johnson (J&J).Cassandra, who stumbled on a Facebook article linking cancer and talc following her diagnosis, said it was used on her as a baby and she continued to use it “for 20 years or more”.”You mimic your mum who used it,” she said. “Baby powder was supposed to be something deemed ‘safe to use’, even on a baby’s bum.”If it proceeds, the legal action would be the first of its kind brought against the pharmaceutical multinational in the UK.With 1,900 potential claimants, including cancer patients, survivors and families, lawyers say it is set to be the largest pharmaceutical product group action in English and Welsh legal history.The BBC has spoken to a number of women with gynaecological cancers – many are part of the group action – who believe their repeated use of talcum powder played a part in their diagnosis.Their lawyers allege that for decades, talcum powder was contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos – something they claim J&J was aware of but sought to suppress. J&J denies suppressing any information and denies any links between its baby powder, asbestos and cancer.Cassandra Wardle”The doctors said the cancer was unusual for my age at 44,” says Cassandra, from Alfreton in Derbyshire. She says she would regularly use talcum powder after a bath or as a deodoriser, including across her genitals.”I was just starting my chemo journey when I read about the links, but I felt enraged that a corporate giant like J&J could seem to do this,” she says.At first, doctors believed Cassandra’s cancer was terminal.”I went to the consultation alone,” she says. “So I had to come home and tell my husband what they said, tell my parents they would be burying me.”I closed down my business unit and laid off staff.”I even created a not-so-creative acronym: ‘LAC – Life After Cass’.” Cassandra WardleThen, she had an unexpected lifeline. Chemotherapy had in fact triggered an autoimmune condition, giving the impression of late-stage cancer.Cassandra survived. But the disease still had a devastating effect on her life.She was forced to give up her business, and an infection during chemotherapy damaged her vocal cords, reducing her voice to a whisper. A hysterectomy to remove cancerous tissue had a huge impact on her body. “I was plunged into surgical menopause,” she says.”I would have liked children. I was never blessed that way, but my last ability to have children was taken away due to cancer.”Are there links between talcum powder and cancer?Getty ImagesThe claims of links between talcum powder and cancer revolve around asbestos – a known carcinogen.Talc is a mineral that is sometimes used in talcum powders and other c …
