J&J talc settlement

Where things stand

Johnson & Johnson has said it will pay an estimated $5.5bn to resolve the mass of US lawsuits alleging that its talc-based baby powder caused cancer. The company put the number of claims covered at about 76,000, above the figure of nearly 70,000 reported earlier by Al Jazeera and the Wall Street Journal, and the Guardian describes the agreement as a landmark that could bring an end to a contentious legal battle running for roughly a decade. The move marks the point at which J&J stops contesting the allegations case by case and instead buys out the bulk of the litigation at once. The payment is not an admission. J&J has consistently denied that its talc products caused ovarian cancer, the FAZ reports, and that denial stands alongside the money it has now committed. How the sum will be divided among claimants, and whether the deal reaches claims beyond the roughly 76,000 counted, has not been reported so far.

Johnson & Johnson is one of the world's largest healthcare and consumer health companies, and its talc-based baby powder was for decades among its most recognisable products. Over the years the company faced a large volume of lawsuits in the United States from plaintiffs who said the talc had caused cancer, with ovarian cancer central to the claims. J&J has denied throughout that its talc products cause ovarian cancer. The dispute grew into one of the largest product liability fights in US courts, measured by the number of claimants involved. The $5.5bn settlement reported by Al Jazeera and the Wall Street Journal is the company's attempt to close out that litigation.