New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson has proposed paying $8.9 billion to settle thousands of claims that its talc products, including baby powder, caused cancer. That’s about four times the amount the pharmaceutical company originally agreed to. Johnson & Johnson says it will pay it by once again trying to file for bankruptcy.
A previous attempt by the company to use Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to resolve the talc lawsuits was rejected by an appellate court. This time the settlement amount would be transferred to a subsidiary, payable over the next 25 years.
Although it stopped global production of the talc products, Johnson & Johnson is still pushing back on allegations, saying a settlement doesn’t constitute an admission of wrongdoing.
