Johnson & Johnson (J&J) announced on Friday that it is negotiating with plaintiffs’ lawyers who have opposed the company’s proposed settlement of lawsuits alleging that its baby powder and other talc products caused cancer. The company aims to eliminate holdouts and finalize a $6.48 billion global settlement through the bankruptcy of a subsidiary company, following two earlier rejections by federal courts.
J&J claims that the majority of claimants support its settlement offer but has paused the vote count temporarily to gather additional votes from plaintiffs who previously opposed the deal. Erik Haas, J&J’s worldwide vice president of litigation, stated, “We have agreed to a short extension of the certification timeline. This will allow these plaintiffs’ attorneys time to speak to their claimants to now consider supporting the plan.”
Andy Birchfield, a lawyer who has led the opposition to J&J’s proposed bankruptcy settlement, expressed a willingness to negotiate but remained prepared to resist another Chapter 11 filing. “Our ultimate objective is fair compensation in a timely manner for ovarian cancer victims. If J&J is becoming more reasonable by negotiating with some claimants, we applaud that,” Birchfield said. “For now, we are continuing to fight for our clients, and if J&J chooses the bankruptcy route for the third time, we will oppose it, and we believe the company will fail.”
J&J plans to proceed with the bankruptcy of a subsidiary if it secures support from at least 75% of the talc claimants. The bankruptcy settlement would resolve all talc-related lawsuits alleging that J&J products cause ovarian cancer and prevent similar cases from being filed in the future.
J&J faces lawsuits from more than 62,000 plaintiffs who claim that its baby powder and other talc products were contaminated with asbestos and caused ovarian and other cancers. J&J denies these allegations, maintaining that its products are safe, do not contain asbestos, and do not cause cancer.
The proposed bankruptcy settlement primarily addresses claims involving ovarian and other gynecological cancers, building on J&J’s previous settlement outside of Chapter 11 proceedings of most lawsuits alleging that its talc caused mesothelioma, a deadly cancer linked to asbestos exposure.
By filing for bankruptcy through a subsidiary, J&J seeks to compel all plaintiffs into one settlement without requiring the parent company itself to file for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy judges have the authority to enforce global settlements that permanently halt all related lawsuits and prohibit new ones. Outside of bankruptcy, any settlement J&J reaches with some claimants could still leave holdouts or future plaintiffs with the right to sue, potentially exposing the company to multibillion-dollar verdicts that initially led it to pursue a bankruptcy settlement.
Although J&J has won many of the ovarian cancer cases tried so far, the litigation has also resulted in some substantial verdicts for plaintiffs, including a $2.12 billion award in favor of 22 women who blamed their ovarian cancer on asbestos in J&J talc.
