Johnson & Johnson announces Billion Dollar settlement

Johnson & Johnson said on Monday it has reached a $5.5 billion settlement that will resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its baby powder and other talc products cause ovarian cancer.



J&J said the settlement will resolve about 69,000 cases consolidated in a US federal court, and related cases in state court, totaling 99.75% of the remaining talc claims.



Plaintiffs' law firms confirmed the deal on Monday, saying that it was a good resolution after a decade-long court battle.



J&J won a significant court victory in the long-running legal battle last week, when a federal judge cast doubt on individual plaintiffs' ability to prove that talc specifically caused their ovarian cancer.



J&J has denied that its talc products caused cancer, saying that talc was safe and did not contain asbestos.



The company stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product.



The litigation resumed in March 2025, after being put on hold for more than three years during J&J's repeated failed attempts to resolve the lawsuits through a shell company's bankruptcy.