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South Carolina consumers trust companies to provide safe and effective products. When these expectations are violated, an individual’s safety, health and well-being may be at risk. An out-of-state woman is currently seeking $28 million from Johnson & Johnson, claiming that baby powder contaminated with asbestos caused her to develop mesothelioma.

The woman claims that she used Johnson & Johnson brand baby powder for around 40 years. Testing of one of her bottles of baby powder revealed that there were 25,000 fibers of asbestos in every gram of talc powder. This amounted to 6 million individual fibers in a single bottle. Her suit alleges that she was routinely exposed to this asbestos over the course of her decades of use, which ultimately caused her cancer.

Both Johnson & Johnson and its co-defendant, Imerys Talc America, deny these claims. Instead, they insist that her mesothelioma must have spontaneously developed. It is not clear if they have any evidence from her medical records or health history to support this claim.

This is not the first or only lawsuit that Johnson & Johnson is facing over its baby powder. Hundreds of other women are also pursuing claims, accusing the company of producing unsafe products that it advertised as both effective and safe. While the majority of these suits involve claims of ovarian cancer, mesothelioma is also cited in some.

Cancer of any type is devastating, but victims who develop mesothelioma usually do so not because of their own actions or a genetic predisposition, but because of negligent asbestos exposure. Victims in South Carolina often find that compensation can help address the financial, physical and emotional damages of their illness. However, since most must demonstrate negligence from years if not decades ago, keeping important records regarding exposure, doctors visits and more can be helpful.