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Big Pharma Giant Reaches ‘Landmark’ Settlement With Women Who Got Cancer After Using J&J Powder

© AP Photo / Chris O'MearaThis Oct. 16, 2012 file photo shows the Johnson & Johnson logo on a package of Band-Aids, in St. Petersburg, Fla.
This Oct. 16, 2012 file photo shows the Johnson & Johnson logo on a package of Band-Aids, in St. Petersburg, Fla.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 05.04.2023
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The long-running legal drama that pitted cancer-stricken women against one of the world’s most notorious Big Pharma multinationals appears likely to reach a conclusion – if the victims are amenable.
US-based pharmaceutical multinational Johnson & Johnson has reached a massive settlement after being inundated with lawsuits alleging its talc products caused cancer, the company announced.
In a move which was described as a “significant victory for the tens of thousands of women suffering from gynecological cancers caused by J.&J.’s talc-based products” by lawyers repressing some 70,000 of the company’s victims, Johnson & Johnson agreed Tuesday to pay $8.9 billion over 25 years through a subsidiary named LTL Management, the New York Times reported.
LTL was created by Johnson & Johnson in 2021 in an effort to shield the multinational corporation from litigation over its carcinogenic talk products. A bankruptcy filing earlier this year by the J&J offshoot was challenged by plaintiffs and thrown out by a US appeals court.
The settlement would bring an end to a legal saga that’s dragged on for over a decade and severely tarnished Johnson & Johnson’s squeaky-clean image, if it’s approved. Victims in the case have long alleged the company knew that the talc used in their baby powder, which previously numbered among the multinational’s most recognizable brands, was contaminated with asbestos.
The proposed settlement still lacks the approval of a bankruptcy court, but, if greenlit, the company claimed the agreement will “resolve all current and future claims involving Johnson & Johnson products that contain talc, such as baby powder,” per the Times.
However, another group of attorneys – who caution that thousands of women still have to vote in favor of the deal for it to go through – suggested the deal wouldn’t do enough to make the victims whole.
A firm representing around 10,000 women, who say that Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based powders caused their ovarian cancer, claimed the settlement was “bad for victims” and insisted it’ll be blocked in court. Even if the settlement is accepted by the government, the firm will have to convince the cancer-stricken women that it’s enough to make their suffering worthwhile.
“Even though $8.9 billion sounds like a lot of money, when you spread it out it comes out to not very much at all for the people who suffered,” he said.
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