The deal covers about 76,000 ovarian cancer claims and requires acceptance by at least 95% of claimants to take effect
Jeff Schear / Getty Images
Johnson & Johnson $JNJ announced an agreement Monday to pay $5.5 billion to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits claiming its talc-based baby powder and other talc products caused ovarian cancer, a settlement the company said would bring finality to 15 years of litigation.
The settlement encompasses approximately 76,000 claims, spanning federal court proceedings in New Jersey as well as related state court cases, and accounts for virtually all of the talc lawsuits still pending against the company, J&J said. It requires acceptance by at least 95% of ovarian cancer claimants before it can take effect. J&J expects to make a first payment of no more than $3 billion in 2027, with additional payments due no earlier than 2028, the company said.
The total payout could exceed $5.5 billion. Chris Seeger, an attorney representing about 2,500 claimants who helped negotiate the deal, said J&J could end up paying $7 billion or more, according to CNBC. The settlement assigns values to qualifying claims but does not cap J&J's total liability. The new structure is designed to deliver payment to all claimants within 18 months, a far faster timeline than the decade-plus payout schedules envisioned under the earlier bankruptcy plans, according to NBC News.
In contrast to the earlier bankruptcy proposals, the new deal is limited to current claimants and leaves any future lawsuits outside its scope.
J&J's worldwide vice president of litigation, Erik Haas, said the company still maintains the claims lack merit. "While we are confident the company would have ultimately prevailed with further litigation, as it has in the vast majority of cases tried to date, this resolution allows the company to put this matter behind it and remain focused on its mission to develop medicines and devices that save lives," Haas said in a statement.
The settlement follows a string of courtroom victories for J&J. On July 22, 2026, a federal judge ordered plaintiffs to show why their remaining talc claims should not be dismissed after plaintiffs withdrew their specific causation experts in two bellwether cases, the company said. J&J has long maintained that its talc products were safe and did not contain asbestos.
The cases returned to court in March 2025 following a halt of more than three years during which J&J pursued a strategy of filing three successive bankruptcies through a subsidiary — an approach that courts rejected each time, resulting in dismissal, according to NBC News. J&J pulled its talc-based baby powder from U.S. shelves in 2020 and eventually extended that withdrawal worldwide in 2023, the company said.
J&J had previously reported second-quarter sales of $25.31 billion, up 6.6% from a year earlier, driven by strong demand in its pharmaceutical segment. The company set a full-year revenue guidance midpoint of $101.1 billion for 2026.
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