Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has offered $5.5 billion to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits claiming its baby powder and other talcum powder products caused ovarian cancer, the company said Monday. The proposed landmark settlement aims to end a long-standing legal battle that has weighed on the New Jersey-based company for years. J&J said the settlement covers some 76,000 claims, representing nearly all remaining talc claims including those consolidated in a federal court in New Jersey and related cases in state courts.
It said in a statement that the settlement is "conditioned on, among other things, the express participation of at least 95% of the remaining claims." The company denies that its talc-based products caused cancer but stopped selling its talc-based baby powder in the United States and Canada in 2020. Its vice president of litigation, Erik Haas said the claims "lack scientific merit" but J&J is willing to settle so it can get closure. "While we are confident the Company would have ultimately prevailed with further litigation, as it has in the vast majority of cases tried to date, this resolution allows the Company to put this matter behind it and remain focused on its mission to develop medicines and devices that save lives," he said in the company statement.
The plaintiffs' lead counsel, Chris Seeger, said in a statement that the settlement "ensures ... (that the) plaintiffs receive fair and meaningful compensation for their injures. More than a decade of protracted litigation and three failed bankruptcies has left tens of thousands of women and their families waiting far too long for relief." J&J has previously settled most of the cases alleging that its talcum powder contained traces of asbestos, which is blamed for causing mesothelioma.
