J&J to Pay $8.9 Billion to Settle Talc-Cancer Lawsuits

  • New bankruptcy filing to be used to resolve 60,000 claims
  • Victim blamed J&J’s baby powder for causing their cancers
Bottles of Johnson & Johnson baby powder.

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

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Johnson & Johnson said it agreed to pay $8.9 billion to resolve all cancer lawsuits tied to its talc-based powders and will make a fresh attempt to contain the liability within a bankruptcy filing by one of its units.

The world’s largest maker of health-care products hopes to settle complaints from about 60,000 claimants and fund a trust set up in US bankruptcy court in Trenton, New Jersey, to cover future claims, the company said Tuesday in a securities filing. J&J has already withdrawn its talc-based baby powder and others, including Shower to Shower, from the market.