Clifford Law Offices Files Lawsuit Against J&J and Walgreens for Chicago Woman’s Cancer Diagnosis from its Talc Products
Clifford Law Offices late this afternoon (March 1, 2017) filed a complaint against Walgreen Co. and Johnson & Johnson for their selling talcum powder to a Chicago woman who has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer as a result of long-term use of the product.
Andrea Harris, 63, of Chicago was diagnosed two years ago with ovarian cancer following her regular and prolonged exposure over the last 36 years to talcum powder that she purchased exclusively at Walgreens, a company based in Deerfield.
The talc was manufactured, marketed, tested, promoted and distributed by Johnson & Johnson, a company based in New Jersey. The complaint alleges that the companies held the product out to be safe for daily use despite studies that revealed information regarding its link to causing cancer, particularly in women.
Harris, along with her husband of 47 years, Bart Harris, filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court after learning that talc is a known carcinogen, yet defendants continued to make and sell the product to unknowing consumers, such as Andrea Harris. Harris stopped using the product in 2014 and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2015. More recently, Ms. Harris and the public learned of the causal link between talc and certain types of ovarian cancer.
Harris is asking for an unspecified amount of damages for the defendants’ failure to warn her of the dangers of talc as well as for the negligent manufacture of the product, breach of warranty, negligent misrepresentation to her as a consumer, fraudulent concealment and intentional misrepresentation. Her attorneys also allege a violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
