By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:) has agreed to pay $700 million to settle an investigation by 42 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. into its advertising of child powder and different talc-based merchandise blamed for allegedly inflicting most cancers.
The settlement resolves fees that Johnson & Johnson misled customers into believing its talc merchandise, which it bought for greater than a century earlier than stopping, had been secure.
J&J didn’t admit wrongdoing in settling with the states, which had been led by Florida, North Carolina and Texas, and has mentioned its talc merchandise are secure and don’t trigger most cancers. The corporate introduced a settlement in precept in January.
“This is a major advancement for consumer product safety,” Florida Legal professional Common Ashley Moody mentioned in a press release.
J&J nonetheless faces tens of 1000’s of talc lawsuits, and a category motion accusing the New Brunswick (NYSE:), New Jersey-based firm of fraudulently hiding their risks from shareholders.
As of March 31, about 61,490 individuals had been nonetheless suing J&J over talc. Most had been girls with ovarian most cancers, whereas a smaller quantity had mesothelioma, a kind of most cancers linked to asbestos.
J&J stopped promoting talc-based child powder globally final 12 months, switching to corn starch as the primary ingredient. It has maintained that its merchandise don’t include asbestos.
The corporate has twice tried to resolve the litigation by inserting into chapter 11 a subsidiary it created to include its talc liabilities, however courts rebuffed each makes an attempt.
On Could 1, J&J proposed a $6.48 billion settlement to resolve many of the litigation by way of a 3rd chapter submitting. It has put aside an $11 billion reserve to cowl all talc liabilities.
“The company continues to pursue several paths to achieve a comprehensive and final resolution of the talc litigation,” Erik Haas, J&J worldwide vice chairman of litigation, mentioned in a press release on Tuesday.
“We will continue to address the claims of those who do not want to participate in our contemplated consensual bankruptcy resolution through litigation or settlement,” he added.
