Johnson and Johnson Face Legal Fallout and Pay $6.48 Billion to Settle Cancer Lawsuits

Johnson and Johnson claim that their products do not contain asbestos and do not cause cancer.

Johnson and Johnson has faced around tens of thousands of lawsuits over its baby powder and other talc products. The J&J subsidiary proposed a $6.48 billion settlement for the lawsuits. These lawsuits alleged that their baby powder and other talc products contain asbestos and cause ovarian cancer. The company hopes to settle most of its cases through a third party bankruptcy filling of a subsidiary company. 

The claims affected the sale of Johnson and Johnson’s baby powder which prompted the company to stop selling its talc based products in 2020. In 2022, they were forced to cease the sales of the products worldwide.

The legal action brought against Johnson and Johnson claimed that its talcum powder usage for feminine hygiene purposes resulted in the development of ovarian cancer or mesothelioma, a form of cancer affecting various organs, primarily the lungs.

Johnson and Johnson claim that their products do not contain asbestos and do not cause cancer. The company’s settlement is also backed by attorneys that are representing the majority of plaintiffs who have filed the cancer lawsuits against the company. The company stands by its safety and states that none of the cases filed against the talc-related products have merit.

The company said that the reorganized plan for the subsidiary that was being announced on Wednesday was different from the one that was announced earlier. The difference being that the company gets a three month voting period in which the ovarian cancer claimants get to vote for or against the plan. Accounting for 99% of the lawsuits directed to J&J concerning talc are attributed to ovarian cancer claims. These legal actions encompass an extensive total of 54,000 cases, all centralized within a federal court proceeding located in New Jersey.

Johnson and Johnson’s worldwide vice president, Erik Haas mentioned that the new plan would succeed wherein the company’s previous efforts were faltered by gathering votes before the bankruptcy filing. He also added that the only major and important difference is that the claimants get to vote referring to the legal complications the company had to face which resulted in court dismissing the previous subsidiary bankruptcy filing before reaching the ballot stage. 

The company has announced that any outstanding personal injury lawsuits concerning mesothelioma will be dealt with separately from the existing plan. They have stated that 95% of the total mesothelioma lawsuits filed up to this point have already been settled. The State consumer Protection claims will also be settled outside of the agreement. The company has already come up with strategies for the agreement. 

To account for all its talc related settlements, Johnson & Johnson has already reserved $11 billion. This includes resolving the alleged claims, outside of the bankruptcy proceedings from the state general for the people that had asbestos-tainted talc that caused their mesothelioma.

Johnson and Johnson proposed paying $8.9 billion to resolve ovarian cancer, mesothelioma and state claims in its second subsidiary bankruptcy filings. The old filings put the talc litigation on hold from 2021 to 2023, but have resumed after the latest bankruptcy case was dismissed in July 2023 by the federal judge.  

The legal battles have led to significant payouts for plaintiffs, such as the $2.12 billion verdict for 22 women linking their ovarian cancer to asbestos in J&J talc. Recently, Johnson and Johnson was told to pay around $45 million in a mesothelioma lawsuit but succeeded in defending against an ovarian cancer case.

In the end, the company switched to cornstarch based powder and stopped selling talc based powder in reference to the increase in lawsuits and misinformation about the talc based on the product’s safety.