Johnson & Johnson Hit With More Than 10,000 New Talcum Powder Cancer Lawsuits
The latest wave in baby powder litigation comes after a two-year delay in filing new cases
Friday, September 29, 2023 - According to Fortune.com, Johnson & Johnson has been hit with an avalanche of new lawsuits by women who claim that using Johnson's Baby Powder caused them to develop ovarian cancer, and also men and women who think that using the product caused mesothelioma, a deadly disease which causes suffocation and death. The lawsuits pile on top of the more than 40,000 baby powder lawsuits that were in place before the pandemic and also before Johnson & Johnson tried to spin off their talc liabilities into bankruptcy to shelter the parent company's assets. Johnson & Johnson, which has a net worth of over $400 billion by some estimates, set aside $9 billion into their LTL management subsidiary to try to settle the lawsuits out of court and avoid the hundred million dollar punitive damage awards juries have been handing out after hearing reports like the one published in Reuters that executives at the company knew as early as 1971 that asbestos was carcinogenic and particles lurked in their talc supply used to make baby powder. FDA testing in 2020 confirmed that bottles of Johnson's Baby Powder purchased in major US retail stores contained particles of asbestos. The company continues to deny that Johnson's Baby Powder contains asbestos or causes cancer itself, and tells the public according to J & J spokespersons that their talc is "safe, pure, and asbestos-free."
The new wave of about 11,000 more Johnson's Baby Powder lawsuits was largely expected by the company as there had been a moratorium in filing lawsuits for three years while the company's controversial bankruptcy scheme was evaluated. "A New Jersey judge overseeing all the federal talc litigation said in a Sept. 6 court hearing that more than 11,000 new complaints have been filed, according to a court transcript. J&J had sought to resolve at least 40,000 talc suits for about $9 billion through the bankruptcy of its LTL Management unit, which was created to end health claims tied to talc allegedly tainted with a toxic substance. But a bankruptcy judge threw the case out July 28," Fortune.com told readers on September 28. Legal representatives from Johnson & Johnson told Fortune.com that they were not surprised by the new cases and that they were expected when their second attempt at settling the cases failed. "Following the bankruptcy dismissal, we fully anticipated plaintiff lawyers would immediately file the cases they had been collecting since 2021," the company said in an emailed statement. "Johnson & Johnson and LTL are prepared to return to the tort system and vigorously defend the Company in talc-related cases." Johnson & Johnson may now have to offer much more than $9 billion if they wish to avoid the lottery-like jury awards like the 2019 case in Missouri where 22 women with talcum powder ovarian cancer were awarded an appeals-adjusted $2.1 billion.
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