More than 40 states have reached a $700 million settlement agreement with Johnson & Johnson to resolve claims the company violated consumer protection laws by deceiving the public about the safety of its talc powder products laced with cancer-causing asbestos.
The coalition of 42 states and the District of Columbia determined through an investigation that asbestos was present in the talc and that J&J failed to disclose in marketing materials that the asbestos may lead to ovarian cancer or mesothelioma.
J&J will halt manufacturing and selling its baby powder and body powder products containing talc as part of the settlement. The company ended the distribution and sale of those products nationwide after the investigation began and, more recently, stopped global sales.
“District residents and customers nationwide deserve the truth about products they’re purchasing, especially products geared towards children,” stated D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb in a press release. “With this bipartisan, multistate settlement, we’re holding Johnson & Johnson financially accountable for decades of harm inflicted on consumers through deceptive marketing tactics, and we’re ensuring that products that have been linked to serious health problems are no longer on the market.”
J&J did not admit guilt in settling the claims.
California will receive the most significant portion of the settlement ($78 million), followed by Texas ($61.5 million) and Florida ($48.1 million), according to court documents. Other states that will receive settlement funds are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
J&J Attempting to Settle Personal Injury Lawsuits
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of lawsuits private citizens filed against J&J alleging they got cancer from using its talc products are pending.
The company is trying to settle ovarian cancer claims through its proposed $6.48 billion settlement agreement, claiming it is the best solution for the claimants. However, a leading asbestos firm has estimated each plaintiff would only receive an average of $43,000 through the agreement – much less than what some cancer victims have been awarded in recent personal injury verdicts against J&J.
An Oregon jury recently awarded a woman diagnosed with mesothelioma $260 million in damages from J&J. The claimant had used the company’s baby powder for decades.
