Johnson & Johnson has offered to pay up to $8.9 billion to the nearly 70,000 plaintiffs in order to settle lawsuits alleging the company’s talc-based baby powder caused cancer, quadrupling its initial proposal to resolve the suits.
According to The New York Times, the legal fight, which lasted more than a decade, involves plaintiffs and families of people who passed away from ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. The plaintiffs’ lawyers described the historical deal as a “significant victory for the tens of thousands of women suffering from gynecological cancers caused by J.&J.’s talc-based products.”
The lawsuits have shadowed the company for years.
The company announced last week that its subsidiary LTL Management has re-filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to seek approval of the plan that would result in one of the biggest product-liability settlements in the U.S.
USA Today reports that the proposed $8.9 billion settlement would be payable over the next 25 years through a subsidiary trust “to resolve all the current and future talc claims,” Johnson & Johnson said. The company previously committed $2 billion to resolve the claims in connection with LTL Management’s initial bankruptcy filing in 2021.
In 2021, Johnson & Johnson paid a $2 billion verdict in favor of women who claimed they developed ovarian cancer from its talc products after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the company’s appeal, the Associated Press reported.
The New Jersey-based company denies claims that its talcum powder products are unsafe and isn’t admitting any wrongdoing as part of the proposed settlement. Fighting the cases, however, would take decades and be costly, “with most claimants never receiving any compensation,” said Erik Haas, worldwide vice president of litigation at Johnson & Johnson.
Last year, Johnson & Johnson announced plans to stop selling baby powder containing talc worldwide as lawsuits mounted and demand for the company’s iconic product declined. Johnson & Johnson ceased the sale of talc-based baby powder in the U.S. and Canada in 2020. The company said it would replace talc with cornstarch.
Talc is a naturally occurring mineral used in cosmetics and other personal care products, including baby powder and blush, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
However, it’s often found in mines with asbestos, meaning there’s a potential for contamination. Inhalation of asbestos has been linked to cancer, according to the FDA. Talc that contains asbestos is “generally accepted as being able to cause cancer if it is inhaled,” according to the American Cancer Society. But the link between asbestos-free talc and cancer is unclear.
Johnson & Johnson has denied its baby powder contains asbestos.
—
Photo Credit: Shiva Photo / Shutterstock.com