For Immediate Release:
January 2, 2020
Contact: Matt Baca — (505) 270-7148
Santa Fe, NM—-Attorney General Balderas today 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.