Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Despite $127M Lawsuits, Scientists Say Still No True Link Between Talc, Ovarian Cancer
Two lawsuits ended in jury verdicts worth $127 million. Two others were tossed out by a judge who said there wasn’t reliable evidence that the talc in Johnson & Johnson’s iconic baby powder causes ovarian cancer. So who’s right? And is baby powder safe? Most research finds no link or a weak one between ovarian cancer and using baby powder for feminine hygiene, a practice generations of American mothers have passed on to their daughters. Most major health groups have declared talc harmless. (Johnson, 9/26)
In other news —
The death rate from ovarian cancer declined in the United States by 16 percent from 2002 to 2012, among the largest reductions in the world. The rate in the United States, 4.85 per 100,000, puts it roughly in the middle of a list of 47 countries whose rates and trends were described recently in a study in Annals of Oncology. (Bakalar, 9/26)
