Johnson & Johnson offers $6.5 billion to settle talc cancer lawsuits

Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday it has offered to wage $6.5 cardinal to settee allegations that its talc products caused cancer, a cardinal measurement successful the pharmaceutical elephantine perchance resolving decades of litigation implicit what was erstwhile 1 of the astir wide utilized user products successful the U.S.

The connection is aimed astatine ending a protracted ineligible conflict stemming from thousands of lawsuits that accused J&J of selling products that allegedly led women to make ovarian cancer, successful immoderate cases causing their death. 

J&J maintains that its talc products are safe. But the institution stopped selling talc-based items successful 2020, and 2 years aboriginal announced plans to cease income of the merchandise worldwide.

The company said the connection would settee 99.75% of the pending talc lawsuits successful the U.S. The ineligible actions not covered by the connection subordinate to mesothelioma, a uncommon crab that affects the lungs and different organs. The institution said it would code those suits extracurricular the projected settlement. 

"The Plan is the culmination of our consensual solution strategy that we announced past October," Erik Haas, worldwide vice president of litigation for J&J, said successful a connection Wednesday. "Since then, the Company has worked with counsel representing the overwhelming bulk of talc claimants to bring this litigation to a close, which we expect to bash done this plan."

Johnson & Johnson made its colony connection arsenic portion of a bankruptcy reorganization program for a subsidiary,  LLT Management, that J&J said would give ovarian claimants 3 months to ballot for oregon against the plan. 

Attorneys for the plaintiffs dismissed the colony offer, saying "would cheat victims legitimately harmed by talc."

"We judge immoderate bankruptcy based connected this solicitation and ballot volition beryllium recovered fraudulent and filed successful atrocious religion nether the Bankruptcy Code," Andy Birchfield, caput of the Mass Torts Section astatine the Beasley Allen Law Firm, said successful a connection to CBS MoneyWatch. "On behalf of our clients who merit better, we are blowing the whistle connected this cynical ineligible maneuver and volition defy it astatine each turn."

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