Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $8.9 billion in settlement amidst talc cancer claims.
The pharmaceuticals company Johnson & Johnson who also make the COVID-19 vaccine is embroiled in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit which alleged its talc-based baby powder caused cancer. The company is said to have ended sales of the powder as it faced thousands of lawsuits over the alleged health hazards. The pharmaceutical giant continued to dismiss the claims, despite its proposed settlement.
According to CNBC, Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday March 4, 2023, said it will pay $8.9 billion over the next 25 years to settle allegations that the company’s baby powder and other talc products caused cancer. Many Jamaicans grew up using Johnson and Johnson talc-based baby powder.
The company announced the proposed settlement in a securities filing. J&J’s subsidiary LTL Management also refiled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after its first attempt was thwarted, the filing said.
The report stated that than 60,000 individuals are involved in the lawsuit and they are committed to support the proposed resolution, which would require approval in bankruptcy court, the filing added.
“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,” said Erik Haas, J&J’s worldwide vice president of litigation, in a statement.
J&J spun off LTL management in October 2021 in a bid to reduce its losses from litigation and settlement. The company funneled its talc lawsuits to the subsidiary and immediately filed for bankruptcy protection.
A judge affirmed J&J’s ability to use the Chapter 11 strategy in February 2022.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit overturned the ruling in January this year, saying neither LTL nor J&J had a legitimate need for bankruptcy protection because they were not in “financial distress.”
Leigh O’Dell, one of the lead attorneys representing plaintiffs in the talc lawsuits, told CNBC at the time that the ruling was another step toward ending J&J’s “attempted abuse of the bankruptcy system.”
O’Dell on Tuesday said in a statement to CNBC that J&J is “seeking an extremely deep discount on justice and is not really offering anything other than another bankruptcy and more delay, delay, and delay.
“This new filing should be viewed as a shameful attempt to run out the clock on people dying of cancer and convince some lawyers to give up,” she said.
Mikal Watts, one of the plaintiff lawyers who negotiated the proposed settlement, said J&J committed to “fairly compensate these deserving women” who have battled cancer due to the talc products. “Our job is to get our clients fairly paid for their injuries, and this settlement is the culmination of a job well done.”
J&J said last month it would take the case to the Supreme Court.
The company paid $7.4 billion in litigation expenses between 2020 and 2021, according to an annual filing. The company said talc litigation was a primary diver of legal costs during those years.
But J&J still denied the talc allegations. “The Company continues to believe that these claims are specious and lack scientific merit,” Haas added.
The company ended sales of its talc-based baby powder globally this year after it faced thousands of lawsuits from customers claiming its talc products caused cancer due to contamination with the carcinogen asbestos.