J&J to allocate $8.9 billion to settle claims against the company over asbestos powder

Johnson & Johnson Corporation (J&J) will provide $8.9 billion to settle claims against the company over the production of powder, the use of which may increase the risk of cancer. This is reported on site companies.

There are currently several thousand lawsuits against J&J over the manufacture of cosmetic talc, which is said to contain cancer-causing asbestos.

“The company continues to believe that these statements are speculative and lack scientific support,” J&J’s vice president of litigation, Eric Haas, said in a statement.

The press release notes that the company’s proposed settlement requires bankruptcy court approval. $8.9 billion will be paid to tens of thousands of plaintiffs over 25 years, the press service said. J&J will pay this money through its subsidiary, LTL Management LLC. It was created to protect J&J from bankruptcy.

Over the past few years, Johnson & Johnson has faced numerous legal challenges to consumer claims that talc-based baby powder causes cancer. So, in 2018, the court decidedthat the company must pay $4.7 billion in compensation to 22 women who they say developed uterine cancer because of the use of Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based products. In March 2019, a California court obliged company to pay $29 million to a woman who accused the corporation of using its products to cause cancer because the powder allegedly contained asbestos.

In 2020 J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US and Canada. The company explained this decision by the decrease in sales of this product in these regions due to a change in consumer habits, provoked by “the spread of incorrect information regarding the safety of this product and an endless stream of litigation.”

Erdni Kagaltynov