To Resolve Talc Causes Cancer Allegations, Johnson & Johnson Proposes $9 Billion Offer

Johnson & Johnson, a major US drug manufacturer, put forth an $8.9 billion settlement agreement on Tuesday to settle long-running claims alleging that its talc products contributed to cancer.

The bankruptcy judge still voted to confirm the proposed deal, according to the New Jersey-based corporation, but it “will fairly and expeditiously settle all claims originating from cosmetics talc lawsuits.”

The $8.9 billion deal would rank with those reached by cigarette corporations and, more subsequently, opioid makers as being one of the major product responsibility judgments ever in the US, assuming it is accepted by the tribunal and a plurality of the claimants.

Thousands of claims have been filed against Johnson & Johnson because of talcum powder that may have contained traces of asbestos and was linked to ovarian cancer. The company, which has never acknowledged misconduct, ceased distributing its talc-based baby powder across Canada and the United States in May 2020.

According to Erik Haas, vice president of litigation at J&J, “the business continues to think that these assertions are speculative and devoid of scientific basis.”

The $8.9 billion, according to J&J, would be distributed over 25 years to the tens of thousands of applicants through a J&J company called LTL Administration LLC, which was formed to handle the complaints and has applied for bankruptcy proceedings. In support of a global resolution under these circumstances, LTL has “received agreements from over 60,000 current claimants,” according to the statement.

An appellate court rejected a previous LTL deal, thus a bankruptcy judge will now need to accept the current LTL insolvency file and agreement. In response to claims that its cosmetics talc contributed to gynecological malignancies, Johnson & Johnson had earlier suggested a $2 billion compensation.