Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is prepared to pay $5.5 billion to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits linked to talc-based products accused of causing ovarian cancer, the American pharmaceutical giant announced on Monday.
The proposed agreement aims to put an end to years of legal battle by covering 76,000 complaints, or almost all the appeals linked to these products which still weigh on the group based in New Jersey, according to the same source.
J&J denies that its talc-based products may have caused cancer, but stopped selling its talc-based baby powder in the United States and Canada in 2020.
For Erik Haas, vice-president of the group in charge of litigation, the complaints “lack scientific basis”.
The proposal on the table allows the company to turn the page on this matter and remain focused on its mission: developing drugs and devices that save lives,” he said in a statement.
J&J has already settled the majority of disputes accusing its talcum powder of containing traces of asbestos, deemed responsible for cancers.
The American giant is also the target of a complaint in the United Kingdom, filed in 2025 on the basis of similar accusations.
The firm which initiated this procedure before the High Court in London says it represents more than 3,000 plaintiffs and estimates that the amount of compensation claimed could amount to “more than a billion pounds” (1.88 billion Canadian dollars).
The plaintiffs claim that they or a family member developed different types of cancer of the pleura, peritoneum or ovaries after using J&J’s baby powder.
The incriminated product was withdrawn from the British market in 2023, three years after the United States and Canada.
