The American pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has presented a plan to end civil lawsuits over talc accused of causing cancer under which it is willing to pay about $6.5 billion. “This plan is the culmination of our mutual resolution strategy announced in October,” Erik Haas, vice president of legal affairs at J&J, said in a press release. «Since that date, the group has worked with lawyers representing the vast majority of the claimants to find a solution to this dispute, which we anticipate with this plan», he said.
Plan
Under the plan, J&J agreed to pay approximately $6.475 billion over twenty-five years for claims related to ovarian problems (99.75% of current claims). The other disorders involve mesothelioma, nicknamed ‘asbestos cancer’, and are treated separately. The proposed plan includes a three-month period during which claimants will be informed of its existence. It will be validated if 75% accept it. The group states that the plaintiffs’ lawyers who collaborated on its development “support it”.
Talc and cancer
Talc is accused of containing asbestos and causing ovarian cancer. Which the company continues to deny, even though it has withdrawn it from the North American market. In this sense, Haas denounced the “distortion of scientific studies”. A summary of studies published in January 2020 covering 250,000 women in the United States found no statistical link between the use of talcum powder on the genitals and the risk of ovarian cancer
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