Johnson & Johnson Proposes $6.5 Billion in New Talc Settlement Offer

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Business|Johnson & Johnson Proposes $6.5 Billion in New Talc Settlement Offer

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/01/business/johnson-johnson-talc-settlement.html

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The offer is the company's third attempt to resolve tens of thousands of claims that its baby powder caused ovarian cancer and mesothelioma.

Johnson & Johnson said on Wednesday that it would ask tens of thousands of people suing the company over claims that its talcum powder products caused their cancer to approve a new $6.5 billion settlement, its third attempt to resolve the lawsuits.

The proposal would settle nearly all current and future claims that its talcum powder products caused ovarian cancer, the company said. Like the previous two efforts — in 2021 and 2023 — the new deal will try to use an element of the bankruptcy system to settle the claims.

Judges have rejected the two previous attempts, on the grounds that bankruptcy court isn't the right venue for them. Johnson & Johnson has said it plans to appeal its most recent bankruptcy rejection up to the Supreme Court, but the company on Wednesday didn't specify why it thought the new effort would survive similar legal challenges to previous ones.

Representatives for Johnson & Johnson declined to comment beyond its announcement.

The company has been trying to end a more than a decade-long legal saga over its liability over baby powder, one of its most recognizable products, which thousands claim caused their ovarian cancer and mesothelioma because it is contaminated with asbestos. The company has long denied those claims, but has in recent years stopped selling talc-based baby powder worldwide.

Last year, Johnson & Johnson proposed an $8.9 billion settlement to resolve 40,000 suits through a subsidiary created in 2021 to absorb the liability from its talc powder lawsuits. The plan was to have the unit file for bankruptcy protection — turning to the court to then disburse the settlement.

Lindsey Simon, a bankruptcy professor at Emory University School of Law, said the reason bankruptcy court was an appealing way to settle mass litigation was that it allowed a company to end cases from claimants who did not agree to its offer, and also from future claimants.

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