Johnson & Johnson's LTL Management Bankruptcy Will Probably Be Appealed To The Supreme Court

No decision was reached in 2022 on whether or not Johnson & Johnson's LTL Management bankruptcy would be allowed to proceed

Friday, January 13, 2023 - If one thing is certain in Johnson & Johnson's LTL Management bankruptcy approval it is that it is unlikely a decision will be reached in 2023. A three-person panel that makes up the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia was supposed to have decided the fate of Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder subsidiary bankruptcy plan by the end of last year. December 31 came and went and no decision was made. According to Asbestos.com, "Attorneys representing a handful of almost 40,000 plaintiffs had asked the appeals court in Philadelphia to overturn a ruling earlier this year by a New Jersey judge who allowed the bankruptcy filing to proceed. Johnson & Johnson in 2021 had used a restructuring strategy known as the Texas Two-Step that created a subsidiary called LTL Management, which absorbed all of its asbestos-contaminated talc liabilities but few of its assets." The delay is OK with Johnson & Johnson since they have succeeded in postponing the start of thousands of talcum powder lawsuits against them, and also in putting the dozen or so trials and jury awards against them on hold.

A spokesperson for the bankruptcy appeals court said that they would have an opinion ready by April 1, 2023, however, their decision is expected to be challenged by either party to the Supreme Court where Johnson & Johnson may not be able to appeal. The Supreme Court recently rejected hearing the company's appeal of a $2.1 billion talcum powder ovarian cancer jury award where 22 women accused the company of wrongdoing that lead to their deadly cancer. Before refusing to hear the case, Supreme Court Judge Kavanaugh quietly recused himself because hearing the case could be a conflict of 'interest. Kavanaugh's father C. Edward Kavanaugh was for decades the president of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, a watchdog agency that was supposed to look after consumer health matters regarding cosmetic products, but instead, many conjectured, turned into a Washington DC lobbying front for Johnson & Johnson and other multi-national beauty product manufacturers. The Cosmetic council stands accused by many of exerting influence on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for many years stalling the FDA from recommending a more strict method of testing talc for asbestos, a known carcinogen. If the LTL management case makes it to the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh again may not be able to lend his support to the company. According to the New York Times, C. Edward Kavanaugh was making $5 million per year in his position as president of the group and was paid $13 million as a severance at his retirement in 2005. Many believe that Brett Kavanaugh may have tried to downplay his father's role in allowing the cosmetics industry to sidestep government regulation of talc and potential asbestos testing requirements, during his recent Supreme Court nomination hearings.

Information provided by TalcumPowderCancerLawsuit.com, a website devoted to providing news about talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits, as well as medical research and findings.