Medical Journals Pull Back on Studies of Talc That Were Paid for by the Industry Because of Conflicts of Interest
Several studies on the safety of talc have been pulled because they didn't say who paid for them
Tuesday, August 5, 2025 - Several peer-reviewed medical publications have pulled research on the safety of talc after finding out that they had secret ties to the industry. This has sent shockwaves through the scientific and medical publishing world. Independent ethics evaluations found that some published publications that said talc was safe for health were paid for, in whole or in part, by companies that make or sue over talcum powder. These retractions have raised worries about the honesty of science and shown the effect of corporate money on public health research. The papers in question were published in reputable journals and were commonly used as proof that talc was safe for people to use in court and in regulatory filings. A lot of them downplayed or even denied any link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer or mesothelioma, which went against what independent and government-funded studies had found. A lawyer who works on many talcum powder cancer cases said that these retractions could have a big effect on future lawsuits because defense teams have relied extensively on this kind of research to fight plaintiffs' claims.
The main issue is with disclosures of conflicts of interest, which are a basic ethical obligation in academic writing. Authors must tell journals about any financial or institutional links that could affect their work. But in some of the studies that were taken back, the money came from corporations that made talc-based goods or fought litigation about talcum powder cancer. In some cases, payments were sent through nonprofit groups or third-party consulting firms to hide where the money came from. An independent examination by a university ethics commission found that several papers were co-authored by experts who had been paid to testify in court for talc product makers but did not tell anyone about it. In one well-known example, it was shown that people with close ties to the industry had prepared a report that was submitted in court as proof that talc was safe. Once medical publications were told, they quickly retracted the papers, saying they broke editorial rules and hurt the integrity of the findings.
Experts in public health think that the news stories show a bigger problem: how easy it is for companies to manipulate scientific literature, especially in fields where lawsuits are common. There are already more than 60,000 talcum powder cancer lawsuits in the United States. Many of them say that using talc for a long time, especially in the vaginal area, led to an ovarian cancer diagnosis. Studies that used to be used to argue against this link are now being discredited, which makes us wonder how many court rulings may have been based on bad science. Retractions could cause scientists to look at the evidence that was used in prior and current cases again. Judges and juries typically look at peer-reviewed research to figure out who is to blame and what the company is responsible for.
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