Johnson & Johnson shareholders called on to end talc baby powder sales

Resolutions to be voted on at shareholder meeting including stopping global sales of product and racial justice audit

Women's health groups are calling on Johnson & Johnson's largest shareholders to force the company to end all sales of its controversial talc-based baby powder and hire an independent firm to conduct a racial justice audit.

The pressure comes after decades of independent science suggested a link between ovarian cancer and baby powder, and the Food and Drug Administration detected cancer-causing asbestos in one lot of the product. Internal company memos show Johnson & Johnson for years marketed it to African American and overweight women and, the groups charge, knew of the asbestos contamination.