Johnson & Johnson faces new lawsuit demanding medical monitoring for talc-related cancer claims
21 Jun 2024 --- Just one week after agreeing to pay US$700 million to settle an investigation brought forth by multiple US states, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) now faces yet another potential class action — this time, with claimants demanding damages and medical monitoring for women who were diagnosed with cancer or who may get the disease in the future.
The claimants allege the cancer is a result of using J&J’s baby powder and other products containing talc. The proposed class action would be the first request for testing of female talc users in the US.
The latest lawsuit does not involve the more than 61,000 individuals who already filed personal injury lawsuits against the pharma giant, claiming its talc contains cancer-causing asbestos.
J&J has long maintained its products are safe, do not cause cancer and are asbestos-free.
However, it removed its talc-based powders from North American shelves in 2020 and halted global sales last year.
Blocking J&J bankruptcy
The lawyers handling this latest case, filed Monday in a New Jersey federal court, also seek to block J&J’s plans announced last month to settle almost all talc claims for about US$6.48 billion through bankruptcy. J&J said it would move forward with that settlement to resolve 99.75% of its pending lawsuits in the US.
It will be a separate class action lawsuit to block J&J’s latest bankruptcy maneuver. Also known as a Texas two-step, it would entail J&J creating a subsidiary that absorbs the lawsuits and then declares bankruptcy. This would be J&J’s third attempt at a tactic thrown out twice by courts that would not let the company use the bankruptcy process to curb potential losses by limiting its exposure to litigation.
J&J is currently engaged in a consultation process for its plan to settle nearly all talc claims against it for US$6.48 billion via a prepackaged bankruptcy. The bankruptcy proposal needs support from 75% of talc claimants, and the three-month voting period ends on July 26.
J&J intends to push back against any motion blocking its proposed bankruptcy settlement. “Frivolous filing”
J&J intends to push back against any motion blocking its proposed bankruptcy settlement.
Worldwide VP of Litigation, Erik Haas, stated that J&J would “immediately ask the Court to reject this frivolous filing.” Haas added that opposing plaintiffs’ lawyers are seeking an additional “windfall” fee that they cannot obtain in the bankruptcy process and that the lawyers are putting their economic interests ahead of their clients — a charge denied by the attorneys.
Pharma giant’s payout
The American multinational has been involved in litigation related to its baby powder for years. Last week, J&J said it would pay US$700 million to settle lawsuits in the US and resolve allegations that it did not warn consumers about possible health risks associated with its baby powder. That is significantly larger than the US$400 million J&J set aside last year for the claims brought forth by 42 states, led by Florida, North Carolina, Texas and Washington, DC.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said it was a “major advancement for consumer product safety.”
The settlement, tentatively proposed last January, would prevent further potential lawsuits alleging the healthcare giant hid any link between the talc in its powder and various cancers.
Talc research and investigations
News outlets, including The New York Times and Reuters, reported that for decades, J&J executives concealed concerns that the company’s baby powder products might contain asbestos.
A study published four years ago in the Journal of the American Medical Association did not find a statistical link between using powder in the genital area and ovarian cancer in women. Still, researchers warned the study, involving data from 250,000 women in the US, may not have been large enough to detect a potential small increase in risk.
Last January, US district judge Michael Shipp ruled that J&J would get a chance to challenge scientific evidence linking talc to ovarian cancer. Under Shipp’s order, J&J has until July 23 to present renewed arguments regarding the scientific evidence.
By Anita Sharma
