J&J to pay $5.5bn to

Where things stand

Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $5.5bn to settle nearly 70,000 lawsuits in the United States alleging that its talc-based baby powder caused cancer, according to reporting by Al Jazeera and the Wall Street Journal. The settlement resolves a mass of claims that had accumulated against the company over its best-known consumer product, and it marks the point at which J&J moves from contesting the allegations case by case to buying out the bulk of the litigation at once. The agreement does not amount to an admission. J&J has consistently denied that its talc products caused ovarian cancer, the FAZ reports, and that denial stands alongside the payment. Further details of how the money will be distributed, and whether the deal covers claims still outside the roughly 70,000 named, have 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.