Santa Fe, NM----Attorney General Balderas has filed a lawsuit in the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico against four corporations that manufactured, advertised, and sold talcum powder products, including baby powder, which contained hazardous and carcinogenic asbestos to New Mexicans. The defendants named in the lawsuit are Johnson & Johnson, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc., Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Corporation; and Valeant Pharmaceuticals North America LLC.
“Our office will take immediate action any time a corporation misleads a New Mexican consumer or endangers the health and safety of our families,” said Attorney General Balderas. “These products have been targeted at minority groups, especially Black and Hispanic women and children, with false messages about their safety, and I will hold these companies accountable.”
The affected products were sold under the names “Johnson’s Baby Powder,” “Johnson’s Medicated Powder,” and “Shower-to-Shower Talcum Powder.” The lawsuit alleges that, despite knowing for over forty years that the products contained carcinogenic asbestos and increased the risk of some types of cancer, the companies actively worked to conceal that risk from the public and from government regulators. Instead, the corporations marketed the products as “safe” and “healthful."
New Mexico is one of the first states in the nation to file a lawsuit against the companies for manufacturing and selling talcum powder contaminated with asbestos.