Bombay High Court orders further testing of Johnson & Johnson baby powder

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Nov 17, 2022

The Bombay High Court ordered a new round of testing of personal care brand Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder over safety concerns. In line with an order by the Government of Maharashtra, Johnson & Johnson may manufacture but not sell its baby powder products at present. 

Johnson & Johnson had moved the court to contest a ruling by the state government which had cancelled its license to sell its baby powder products, ET Bureau reported. The government had in a second order instructed Johnson & Johnson to cease manufacturing and selling the product. 
 
The Maharashtra state government had decided to order a cease in manufacturing based on the findings of a report made by the Central Drug Laboratory in Kolkata. The report found Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder to be a higher pH value than prescribed. Following the court ruling on Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration has been directed to collect fresh samples of baby powder from Johnson & Johnson’s factory in Mulund, Mumbai. 

“The samples shall be sent to the Central Drug Testing Laboratory, west zone, FDA lab and the Intertech Laboratory for testing,” said the Bombay High Court, the Press Trust of India reported. “The labs shall submit a report within one week thereafter… The petitioner is restrained from selling or distributing the baby powder product by the government. The company shall abide by this order. If the company chooses to manufacture the product then it would be at their own risk.”