"Storm" surrounds Johnson & Johnson

The class action lawsuit, filed by thousands of women who have been diagnosed with cancer or may develop the disease in the future, was filed in federal court in New Jersey on June 17. The lawsuit seeks damages from J&J and, for the first time, requires the company to pay for regular health checks and monitoring to detect the disease early.

This is the latest class action lawsuit facing J&J, in which plaintiffs say they developed cancer after using some of its products. The lawsuit does not include more than 61,000 people who have filed individual lawsuits against J&J alleging that its products contained cancer-causing asbestos.

However, J&J insists that its baby powder and other talc-containing products are safe, asbestos-free and do not cause cancer.

Law firms representing the plaintiffs in the new lawsuit have opposed J&J’s plan to pay $6.48 billion to settle talcum powder lawsuits through its third bankruptcy filing. The same law firms are also representing plaintiffs in a separate class action lawsuit, asking a New Jersey court to dismiss J&J’s bankruptcy filing.

The proposed settlement through a bankruptcy filing requires the support of 75% of the plaintiffs with talcum powder-related claims. J&J began a three-month voting period for claimants that is scheduled to end on July 26.

J&J's vice president of global legal affairs, Erik Haas, said the law firms representing plaintiffs in the June 17 class action lawsuit had blocked the company's plans to file for bankruptcy, arguing that the lawyers could collect more fees.

Meanwhile, plaintiffs' lawyers say the amount J&J proposed in the $6.48 billion settlement is not even enough to compensate the plaintiffs.

In the previously settled lawsuits and the new lawsuit, plaintiffs allege that they developed cancer after using certain J&J talc products, mostly women with ovarian and gynecological cancers. Some cases involved mesothelioma.

J&J has twice sought to resolve current and future lawsuits through bankruptcy. J&J created a new company, LTL Management LLC, to handle tens of thousands of plaintiffs related to its baby powder products. The subsidiary then filed for bankruptcy protection in 2021, a move that was widely seen as an attempt to thwart lawsuits against J&J. Both bankruptcy filings failed, however, as courts ruled that J&J and its subsidiary were not in financial trouble and therefore did not qualify for bankruptcy.