Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has agreed to pay $5.5bn in compensation for tens of thousands of lawsuits filed against the company in the United States, which allege that its discontinued talc-based baby powder caused ovarian cancer.
The pharmaceutical giant announced on Monday that the settlement covers about 69,000 cases filed in the United States alone, accounting for nearly 99.75 per cent of outstanding talc-related cases in the country.
Talc was once a key ingredient used as a staple in baby products, but its use has declined drastically over the past few years following concerns that it caused cancer.
The World Health Organisation classified talc as “probably carcinogenic to humans” back in 2014.
While the company maintains that its own studies found no such sign, it stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US in 2020, before discontinuing its sale in worldwide markets in 2023.
In 2016, a US jury ordered J&J to pay $72 million to the family of a woman who died of ovarian cancer allegedly caused by the use of the mineral. Though the verdict was overturned a year later, claims against the company have multiplied since, with juries across the US awarding damages to plaintiffs.
Erik Haas, J&J’s litigation head, said the agreement lets J&J “put this matter behind it”.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing the plaintiffs welcomed the settlement as a good resolution to a decade-long court battle.
The deal does not cover the United Kingdom, where the largest product liability case in UK history — covering more than 7,000 potential claimants — is still being adjudicated.
