Jul. 28 at 1:39 AM
Johnson & Johnson reached a proposed settlement to resolve most U.S. ovarian cancer lawsuits linked to its talc products, agreeing to pay
$5.5 billion if at least 95% of claimants accept. The deal would cover about 76,000 pending claims and end more than 15 years of litigation.
The agreement follows a federal court ruling that raised doubts about whether plaintiffs could prove J&J’s talc caused ovarian cancer in specific cases. J&J said it remains confident it would have prevailed at trial but chose to settle to avoid the costs and uncertainty of prolonged litigation. The first payment, capped at
$3 billion, would be made in 2027, with no further payments before 2028.
The company continues to maintain that scientific evidence supports the safety of its talc products, which it says were asbestos-free and did not cause cancer. J&J discontinued Johnson’s Baby Powder globally in 2023 and assumed all talc-related liabilities after spinning off its consumer health business, Kenvue.
$JNJ $KVUE