Johnson & Johnson offers $5.5 billion settlement to resolve remaining talc lawsuits
Johnson & Johnson proposed a $5.5 billion deal, with an initial payment of up to $3 billion next year, to settle pending claims that its talc products caused ovarian cancer, after a prior $9 billion proposal was rejected by a bankruptcy court.
Johnson & Johnson has put forward a $5.5 billion settlement to resolve the remaining lawsuits alleging that its talc products caused ovarian cancer. The proposal requires at least 95% of the outstanding claimants to participate. A bankruptcy court previously rejected a $9 billion settlement offered by the company’s subsidiary Red River Talc, and J&J chose not to appeal that decision.
A federal judge recently ordered plaintiffs to demonstrate why the pending talc claims should not be dismissed, noting that the plaintiffs’ witnesses had not provided direct evidence linking the product to cancer. > "The Court’s order placed plaintiffs in an untenable position of having to present specific causation evidence to maintain their claims that does not exist," Erik Haas, worldwide vice president of litigation for Johnson & Johnson, said in a prepared statement.
Under the new proposal, J&J would make an initial payment of up to $3 billion in the coming year, with no further payments required until 2028. > "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," Haas added.
The company previously settled about 95% of lawsuits related to mesothelioma, all state consumer-protection claims, and all disputes with talc suppliers. Shares of the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based firm rose more than 2% in pre-market trading on Tuesday.