Multi-District Talc Litigation Now Covering Rare Peritoneal Cancers

The continuing talcum powder cases have expanded to cover claims regarding peritoneal tumors, therefore adding further legal and medical complexity

Monday, June 2, 2025 - The broad multi-district litigation (MDL) over talcum powder and cancer is growing to include plaintiffs diagnosed with peritoneal malignancies, an uncommon and usually disregarded kind of disease. Most baby powder cancer lawsuits used to center on ovarian cancer or mesothelioma, the two diseases most commonly linked to long-term talcum powder use. Legal teams are now including peritoneal cancers--especially primary peritoneal carcinoma--into the larger litigation effort, citing growing data showing talc particles can travel outside the reproductive organs and induce abdominal lining inflammation. This shift reflects the changing scientific knowledge of how talc exposure may impact the whole peritoneal cavity, not only the ovaries, according to a baby powder ovarian cancer lawyer engaged in the MDL procedures. Medical reports and pathology results demonstrating talc fibers buried in peritoneal tissue samples acquired from patients without ovarian involvement provide the basis for these fresh allegations. More of these cases are coming to light and they are being combined into the current federal MDL to expedite pretrial investigation and offer a coordinated response to rising legal and scientific issues. Those making these fresh claims contend that they too regularly used talcum powder and were unaware that the product can induce sickness in other areas of the abdominal cavity.

Court documents and counsel briefs indicate that additional peritoneal cancer cases have lately been formally allowed into the MDL, indicating that the court acknowledges their possible connection with talcum powder use. Although peritoneal tumors are rare, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, which supervises MDL assignments, noted that they manifest in comparable clinical settings as ovarian cancer--especially in women who have a history of regular talc use for personal hygiene. Talc particles can pass the reproductive canal and settle in the peritoneal lining, where they may cause chronic inflammation and cellular alterations over time, according to scientific studies increasingly supporting this view. Lawyers representing baby powder cancer claims believe these instances are especially significant since they may impact a new group of patients who were not aware of any possible link between talc use and their diagnosis. Working with medical professionals, legal teams are presenting evidence of talc exposure routes and tissue results bolstering causality. As the medical world grows more aware of the wider consequences of talc exposure, the MDL's inclusion of peritoneal tumors may also cause a review of product safety rules and regulatory classifications. Seeking responsibility for what plaintiffs contend to be decades of false or inadequate safety information, they claim that product labels and advertising never warned that talcum powder could cause hazards outside the ovaries. Legal and medical professionals predict more unusual cancer cases will surface as the litigation develops, therefore extending the range of what was once thought of as a strictly limited health concern. As more cases and data linking talc to disease outside the ovaries surface, multi-district talcum powder litigation is growing to encompass rare peritoneal tumors. Lawyers representing baby powder cancer claims claim this change reflects a growing knowledge of how talc exposure may trigger inflammation in the peritoneal lining, not only ovarian tissue.

Information provided by TalcumPowderCancerLawsuit.com, a website devoted to providing news about talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits, as well as medical research and findings.