USA: Johnson & Johnson faces tens of thousands of lawsuits over allegedly harmful talc baby powder
Since at least 2016, Johnson & Johnson (J & J) has faced thousands of lawsuits alleging its talcum-based baby powder caused cancer. In early 2016, a jury awarded $72 million in damages to the family of a woman who died from ovarian cancer attributed to the baby powder. More lawsuits against J & J ensued, with the company ordered to pay billions in damages over the past few years. Many of the plaintiffs used the baby powder for decades, and several alleged it contained asbestos. J & J asserts its products are safe.
In June 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal brought by J & J to overturn a $2.12 billion damages verdict.
In August 2022, J & J announced it would stop manufacturing and selling talc baby powder after tens of thousands of lawsuits were brought against the company. A 2018 Reuters investigation uncovered that the company knew and concealed for decades that its talc products periodically contained trace amounts of asbestos.
J & J stopped selling talcum baby powder in the US and Canada in 2020 and announced it would switch to cornstarch-based baby powder.
In January 2023, an appeals court dismissed a bankruptcy petition by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary LTL Management LLC. The move was seen as an attempt by J & J to offload the lawsuits into bankruptcy proceedings. A bankruptcy judge dismissed a second bankruptcy petition by the subsidiary in July 2023. The judge found the subsidiary company failed to meet the 'good faith' requirement under federal bankruptcy law.
In April 2023, J & J proposed to pay $8.9 billion over the next 25 years to the claimants to settle the lawsuits.
This story collates news about the lawsuits.