Johnson & Johnson agrees to pay $5.5 billion to settle lawsuit over baby powder cancer risk

Johnson & Johnson has offered to pay up to $5.5 billion, or up to $68 billion, to settle thousands of lawsuits in the United States. The lawsuits were filed after allegations that the company's baby powder and other products containing talc caused ovarian cancer.

The historic settlement proposal comes as the New Jersey-based healthcare giant has offered to end a years-long legal battle.

Johnson & Johnson has denied allegations that its talc-containing products cause cancer. It has also changed the formula of its widely used baby powder.

The company's vice president of litigation, Eric Haas, said on Monday that the allegations are baseless. However, Johnson & Johnson has agreed to a settlement to finally settle the matter.

The company said it will pay up to $3 billion next year. After that, it will not have to pay any additional money before 2028.

Johnson & Johnson said the proposal would be final if the law firms representing 95 percent of ovarian cancer cases in state and federal courts accept it.

In a statement, Haas said they were confident that they would have prevailed in the long run, as they have in most cases to date.

He added that the proposed settlement would allow the company to put this matter behind it and focus on its mission of making life-saving medicines and devices.

Johnson & Johnson’s former consumer health business, Kenview, is responsible for Johnson’s baby powder outside North America. Kenview, which owns well-known brands such as Band-Aid, Listerine and Calpol, was spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2022.

The lawsuit over Johnson & Johnson’s talc-containing baby powder began in early 2009.

Earlier this July, a federal court handed the company a victory over whether individual plaintiffs could prove that talc directly caused their ovarian cancers.

Talc is a naturally occurring mineral made of magnesium, silicon, oxygen and hydrogen. It is known for its soapy, soft feel and is commonly used in baby powder.

Johnson & Johnson has been sued by consumers and their families, alleging that asbestos contamination in its talc-containing products caused cancer.

Talc is mined from the ground. It is found in layers near asbestos, which is a known carcinogen.

Johnson & Johnson has repeatedly denied the allegations. In its most recent statement, it said that studies have shown that talc is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.

In 2022, Johnson & Johnson announced that it would stop making and selling talc-based baby powder worldwide. The announcement came more than two years after it stopped selling the product in the United States.

At the time, Johnson & Johnson said that as part of a global product review, it had made a commercial decision to transition to an entirely cornstarch-based baby powder product.

Source: BBC