Organic vs. Man-Made: Why We Didn’t Look Closely at Talc for So Long

There has been a push over the last few years for “organic” foods and products. (Try Google searching the words “organic clothing” if you need more proof.) We justify it in various ways – a return to a simpler time, the overexposure to chemicals by workers in all trades, the science that says human growth hormones in our meats have been causing our children harm, the backlash against genetically modified foods; the list is a long one, and it makes some valid points. After all, look at how many of Johnson & Johnson’s drugs and products have been linked to serious, even life-threatening side effects.

But talc – talc is a naturally occurring mineral. And by the standards we have created, that natural is better than man-made, we should inherently trust that it is safe. Yet two different juries have now awarded two different plaintiffs $127 million in damages because of the proof they saw of a link between talc and ovarian cancer.

How can that be? As it turns out, natural products are not necessarily safer or better for you than the ones we create in labs. Some of them are just as dangerous as the drugs J&J makes on a regular basis. Thanks to clever marketing, however, the American people have been sold a bill of goods that leads them to believe that natural and organic products must be safe, simply because they are natural and organic. So we trusted that talc products, like baby powder, would be fine to use. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Nature is deadly

As more people decided to turn away from wheats and meats, the soy foods market exploded. Soy contains plant-derived compounds called phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens have some wonderful health benefits, but according to the latest research, “many are also considered endocrine disruptors, indicating that they have the potential to cause adverse health effects as well,” similar to Bisphenol A (BPA). BPAs are used in plastics, and fear of the chemical has led to their ban in baby bottles. For the record, BPA disrupters are weaker than those in soy.

If you would like another example, let us turn to the sun. Many of your OTC medications (and prescription drugs as well) contain chemicals or compounds that lead to sun sensitivity. Cipro and Levaquin have this well-known side effect. So do Aleve, Benadryl and Accutane. (You can see a more complete list here.) And so does the naturally occurring St. John’s wort, which can make your skin especially sensitive to sunlight and increase your risk of developing skin cancer.

The take away

We have been duped by marketing into thinking that that natural, organic products are somehow safer for us. In reality, these products and compounds are just as dangerous as some of the man-made chemicals and products we consume and use every day. This is why it has been so easy for consumers to keep using talc, even when the first rumblings of a deadly link to cancer emerged decades ago. Talc is natural, therefore talc must be safe. Johnson & Johnson didn’t even have to convince us this was true; we convinced ourselves. And as the Food & Drug Administration has little to no regulatory power over cosmetics and herbal supplements, we didn’t see anything to the contrary until it was too late.

This is why McGowan, Hood, Felder & Phillips, LLC has taken up the call on behalf of victims throughout the country. Our South Carolina defective products attorneys refuse to let it be too late for anyone else. If you or your loved one used talc products, and has now been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, we want to hear your story. To talk to one of our skilled mass tort attorneys, please call 803-327-7800 or fill out our contact form. We are currently accepting cases throughout the U.S. Let us fight for you, your family and your future.