Johnson & Johnson To Pay $8.9B Settlement Over Talcum Powder Cancer Claims
Thousands of lawsuits have alleged the company's talcum products caused cancer
Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $8.9 billion to settle lawsuits that alleged its talcum-based baby powder caused cancer, the company said in a statement.
The nearly $9 billion figure comes after the company initially set aside $2 billion for litigation costs in October 2021. "All current and future talc claims" would be covered, the company's April 4 statement says, which added it was payable over the next 25 years.
Thousands of lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson claimed the talc powder had caused customers to develop either ovarian cancer or mesothelioma, which is an aggressive cancer that can affect the linings of the lungs, abdomen or heart.
Johnson & Johnson's statement said the billions of dollars earmarked for lawsuits was not "an admission of wrongdoing, nor an indication that the company has changed its longstanding position that its talcum powder products are safe."
A subsidiary, LTL Management LLC, re-filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of a plan that would "efficiently resolve all claims arising from cosmetic talc litigation against the Company and its affiliates in North America."
Related:Woman Awarded $417 Million After Claiming Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Gave Her Cancer
The company has been steadfast in its position that claims about its talc powder are without merit, a point highlighted by Erik Haas, the Worldwide Vice President of Litigation at Johnson & Johnson. Haas said: "The company continues to believe that these claims are specious and lack scientific merit."
Haas said the new plan was proposed because litigation cases would "take decades and impose significant costs on LTL and the system."
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"Resolving this matter through the proposed reorganization plan is both more equitable and more efficient, allows claimants to be compensated in a timely manner, and enables the Company to remain focused on our commitment to profoundly and positively impact health for humanity," Haas said.
The lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson contributed to the company discontinuing sales of its signature talc-based baby powder in the United States and Canada in 2020. The New Jersey-based company blamed the decision on declining sales "due in large part to changes in consumer habits and fueled by misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage of litigation advertising."
Related:Johnson & Johnson to End Sales of Talc-Based Baby Powder
Last year the company announced it would stop using talc in baby powder worldwide, and would replace it with cornstarch.
Johnson & Johnson currently faces more than 40,000 lawsuits over the talc powder, the BBC reports. The company's statement claims it has "has won the vast majority of cosmetic talc-related jury trials that have been litigated to date."
However, there have been successful cases against the company including $2.12 billion in damages awarded to a group of 22 women in 2021, who claimed their ovarian cancer was linked to the company's talc products, Reuters reported.
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