Johnson & Johnson Hit by 11,000 More Lawsuits Linking Baby Powder to Cancer After Judge Throws $9 Billion Settlement Case
Johnson & Johnson has seen at least a 28% surge in new lawsuits claiming its talc-based Baby Powder causes cancer a little more than five weeks after the company’s plan to resolve the cases was tossed from bankruptcy court.
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 on July 28.
The escalation in claims is likely to complicate efforts by J&J to settle almost a decade of suits alleging talc-based Baby Powder causes ovarian cancer and another cancer linked to asbestos exposure. The company, which has appealed the bankruptcy’s dismissal, is preparing to defend itself in a state-court trial in California that’s slated to start next month.
J&J faces a spate of jury trials early next year over allegations its executives knew since the early 1970s that talc contained trace amounts of asbestos, but failed to alert consumers or regulators. J&J contends its talc-based products don’t cause cancer and the company has marketed Baby Powder appropriately for more than 100 years.