The company Johnson & Johnson said it would pay $6 billion to settle claims that its talc product causes ovarian cancer. This resolution is meant to end the lawsuits that were going on over the brand and its goods.
Johnson & Johnson was sued thousands of times for selling products that gave women ovarian cancer, which in some cases was deadly. The company J&J has said many times that their talc goods are safe, even though they no longer sell them.
Ninety-nine percent of their talc cases in the US will be over with this settlement. They said that cases about mesothelioma would be taken care of separately and that the amount they want to pay does not cover that.
“The Plan is the culmination of our strategy for peaceful resolution that we announced in October,” Erik Haas, vice president of litigation for J&J around the world, said. “Ever since then, the Company has worked with lawyers who represent the vast majority of talc claimants to end this lawsuit, which we hope to do with this plan.”
Johnson & Johnson said the deal would be a part of a plan to reorganize a subsidiary into a bankruptcy. They said that ovarian cancer patients would have three months to vote for or against the plan. A lot of law firms agree with the plan, but some said it might “cheat victims legitimately harmed by talc.”
At the Beasley Allen Law Firm, Andy Birchfield is the head of the Mass Torts Section. He said, “We think any bankruptcy based on this solicitation and vote will be found fraudulent and filed in bad faith under the Bankruptcy Code.”
