Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $700 million in a nationwide settlement, resolving allegations that the company misled customers about the safety of its talcum powder products in its marketing.
“Consumers rely on accurate information when making decisions about what products to purchase for their families,” said Attorney General Kwame Raoul, one of 43 Illinois attorneys general involved in the lawsuit. said in a statement Tuesday. “Every company – no matter the size – must be held accountable when consumer protection laws are broken and their trust is betrayed.”
As part of settlement, which is still pending court approval, the health products giant will permanently stop manufacturing, promoting and selling all of its baby powder and other body and cosmetic products containing talcum powder. That includes Johnson's Baby Powder and Johnson & Johnson's Shower to Shower. The company decided to do that remove talc-based powders from the market in North America in 2020.
Under the settlement, J&J will make four settlement payments to 42 states and Washington DC beginning in late July.
Erik Hass, J&J's global vice president of litigation, said in a statement that the company “continues to pursue a variety of avenues to achieve a comprehensive and final resolution of the talc lawsuit.” That progress includes the finalization of a previously announced agreement the company reached with a consortium of 43 state attorneys general to resolve their talc claims. We will continue to address the claims of those who do not wish to participate in our intended consensual bankruptcy resolution through litigation or settlement.
The $700 million settlement is the latest development in a decade-long legal battle and investigations into links between cancer and the talc used in one of its best-known products. More than 50,000 claims have been filed against the company, mainly on behalf of women who have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
Earlier this month, a jury was held in Oregon awarded $260 million to a local woman who claimed the company's baby powder products were “directly responsible” for her cancer diagnosis in 2003. In April, a jury awarded $45 million to the family of an Illinois woman who died of mesothelioma in 2020 after had been exposed to asbestos in J&J powder.
Last month, J&J offered to pay $6.5 billion to settle the talcum powder lawsuits.
