Johnson & Johnson To Pay Over $100 Million Settlement Over Talc Baby Powder Claims

Johnson & Johnson will pay at least $100 million to settle more than 1,000 lawsuits claiming that the company’s talc baby powder caused cancer. More than 19,000 lawsuits have been filed by Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based baby powder consumers and law firms that claimed the product was contaminated with asbestos and caused the deadly disease.

The $100 million settlement is the first of major settlements that Johnson & Johnson will deal with in four years of litigation and will come seven months since a jury reviewed evidence about the cancer risk of the talc powder. The payout will also mark the first time that Johnson & Johnson will settle the slew of plaintiff lawyer’s cases in the suits than settle individual suits during the trial.

While Johnson & Johnson declined to comment on the settlement, the company maintained on Monday that its talcum baby powder is safe and does not cause cancer. “In certain circumstances, we do choose to settle lawsuits, which is done without an admission of liability and in no way changes our position regarding the safety of our products,” said Johnson & Johnson.

The first time the company faced scrutiny over its baby powder was in 2018, when an investigative report confirmed the presence of asbestos in the product. Based on the report, Johnson & Johnson had been aware that asbestos, a carcinogen, was lurking in its talc powder since 1957.

Demand for the company’s baby powder significantly plunged early this year. In May, Johnson & Johnson announced that it would stop the sale of its talc baby powder in the U.S. and Canada following a significant drop in demand. The company has since then introduced a cornstarch version of its baby powder in both countries, although it maintains that its original version is safe.

In 2019, Johnson & Johnson recalled about 33,000 units of its talc baby powder in the U.S. after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found traces of asbestos in the product’s bottle. However, officials later tested the product and said they had found no asbestos in it.