The Lancet has retracted a 49-year-old unsigned commentary on the safety of cosmetic talc after two researchers discovered the author was a paid consultant to Johnson & Johnson, at the time a leading producer of talc products. The anonymous commentary has been used for decades by corporate defense attorneys to claim scientific proof of talc products’ safety, according to critics. But one such attorney says the paper “would not be relied upon to any significant degree.”

Published in 1977, the article argued against government-mandated regulatory testing for asbestos in cosmetic talc. Around that time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was considering such monitoring, a task that ultimately became the responsibility of cosmetics companies. The researchers behind the push for retraction, public health historians David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz, have served as witnesses on behalf of people who developed diseases as a result of exposure to asbestos products, including talc.

Source https://retractionwatch.com/2026/03/25/lancet-retraction-commentary-talc-powder-johnson-johnson-industry-consultant/

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