Cosmetics giant Johnson
& Johnson was last week ordered by a Missouri jury to pay $72 million in damages
to the family of a woman whose death from ovarian cancer was linked to her
decades-long use of the company’s talc-based Baby Powder and Shower to Shower
products. Ovarian cancer survivor Deane Berg, 58, a physician’s assistant from
Sioux Falls, SD, believes the judgment is a great victory. Here, Berg tells The
Post’s Jane Ridley her story.
When I first noticed spotting
between my periods in the fall of 2006 at the age of 49, I chalked it up to
impending menopause. But my instinct as a physician’s assistant told me to get
a second opinion from a gynecologist after my family practitioner told me I was
fine.
So, that December, I went to Sanford
Medical Center in Sioux Falls for an ultrasound. The technician was chatting
away happily, but suddenly went quiet. “We’ll finish this up, and the nurse
practitioner will come in to talk to you,” she said.
I got dressed, and the NP arrived.
She put her hand on my knee. “Deane, I’m afraid something is wrong,” she said.
“You’ve got a hemorrhagic ovary. We’re going to have one of the doctors review
it.”
The next few days were a haze. I had
both ovaries removed — the non-hemorrhagic one as a precaution. I was
desperately upset but, after having two daughters, now ages 30 and 27, my
child-bearing years were over.
But that was the least of my
concerns. The results of the biopsy in January 2007 were devastating. As a
health-care professional, I saw the words “bilateral carcinoma” on the
pathology report, and my heart sank. I had stage 3 ovarian cancer, which had
metastasized to some of my lymph nodes. The prognosis was not good, and I was
facing a life expectancy of less than five years. I had a full hysterectomy
within a week and prepared to undergo six months of painful chemotherapy.
Just a couple days after the
surgery, I read some literature from my oncologist that included information
from Gilda’s Club, the foundation created by friends
of the late actress Gilda Radner. To my astonishment, it said that use of
talcum powder has been implicated in the development of ovarian cancer.
There was no ovarian cancer in my
family. I didn’t smoke. I wasn’t overweight. The one risk factor that stood out
was my use of talcum powder. According to the leaflet, since the early 1980s, a
slew of studies showed that women who regularly used talc for feminine hygiene
had higher-than-average rates of ovarian cancer. [According to the American
Cancer Society, the current body of research linking talc to ovarian cancer is
mixed.]
Modal TriggerA bombshell lawsuit against Johnson
& Johnson linking ovarian cancer with talcum powder threatens to upend the
cosmetics industry.
Like many others, I had dusted my
perineum area with baby powder as a daily routine, like brushing my teeth, ever
since I was 18. I’d used both Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower, which
was specifically marketed as a feminine hygiene product. “A sprinkle a day
helps keep odor away,” the ads said. “Your body perspires in more places than just
under your arms.”
To my shock, there was very little
on the Internet suggesting a link between talc and ovarian cancer. It was
mostly confined to medical journals and had barely registered with the general
public.
But that all changed last week,
exactly 10 years since my surgery, with the news that the family of Alabama
woman Jacqueline Fox has been awarded $72 million in damages from Johnson &
Johnson after her death from ovarian cancer was linked to her prolonged use of
Baby Powder and Shower to Shower, a brand that Johnson & Johnson sold in
2012 to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International.
Jurors found Johnson & Johnson
liable for fraud, negligence and conspiracy after lawyers argued that the company knew about the dangers but did
nothing to inform customers.
I’m so relieved that the issue is
finally getting the attention it deserves. In 2013, I, too, sued Johnson &
Johnson, and a federal jury found that its body powder products were a factor
in my condition. Although I was surprised that the jury awarded me zero damages
— South Dakota is a very conservative state, and there had to be a unanimous
verdict on whether any compensation should be paid — it was never about the
money. Earlier I had turned down a $1.3 million out-of-court settlement because
I didn’t want to sign a confidentiality clause.
I believe that talc can cause
ovarian cancer in women. Many apply it to their private parts, and talc
particles travel to the ovaries through the cervix and line the uterus and
fallopian tubes, resulting in toxic effects on the ovaries. In my opinion,
talcum powder products should be withdrawn from the market and, until then, be
clearly labeled indicating the risk.
No woman should have to go through
what Mrs. Fox and I endured, along with thousands of other ovarian cancer
sufferers. My life was consumed by chemotherapy and hospital visits. I had two
ports put in my chest and abdomen for the IVs. Getting the chemo in my abdomen
was the worst pain I’d ever experienced, even worse than childbirth. I suffered
from hair loss, nausea, lack of appetite, and I would frequently throw up. I
became anemic and could barely walk. Off work for sickness for six months, I
couldn’t go out in public in case my immunity was compromised. Then my hearing
started to go bad, a side effect of the chemotherapy. It was a living hell, but
mercifully, about a year later, in 2008, I was told my cancer went into
remission.
And my case paved the way for
plaintiff lawyers to bring claims for hundreds of women who blame their ovarian
cancer on exposure to talcum powder. As my lawyer said, I’m the
equivalent of the first smokers who sued tobacco companies because of their
lung cancer. The pioneers didn’t receive compensation, but the dangers and the
conspiracy were finally exposed.
Now I hope the family of Mrs. Fox
will be the first of many to be awarded damages. Some people think $72 million
is excessive, but I don’t think so. How can you put a value on a life? [New York Post]
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