Johnson & Johnson Will Pay $100M in Baby Powder Lawsuits

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle more than a thousand lawsuits claiming its iconic talc-based baby powder caused cancer, according to Bloomberg News. The settlement stems from burgeoning litigation after earlier asbestos-contaminated talc was found in one of its products. Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest maker of health care merchandise, recalled 33,000 bottles of its baby powder in 2019, “out of an abundance of caution.” It also stopped selling talc-based baby powder the same year in the United States and Canada, switching to a cornstarch-based product. This will be the first time Johnson & Johnson has settled lawsuits in bulk involving talc contamination. It previously settled only individual cases before or during trial. J&J Still Insists Products Are Safe The settlement involved several law firms across the country, including the Lanier Law Firm, which won a $4.7 billion verdict in 2018 against Johnson & Johnson. That award was cut to $2.1 billion on appeal and is being appealed again in the Supreme Court of Missouri. This settlement, according to Bloomberg, resolves most all of Lanier’s remaining cases against J&J. Despite this latest settlement, Johnson & Johnson continues to insist its product are safe to use and the contamination found was an isolated case. “Scientific evidence by medical experts around the world shows that our talc is safe and does not cause cancer,...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news