A Johnson & Johnson subsidiary filed for bankruptcy for a third time on Friday as the healthcare giant seeks to advance an approximately $10 billion proposed settlement that would end tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging that the company’s baby powder and other talc products caused cancer.
J&J faces lawsuits from more than 62,000 claimants who alleged that its baby powder and other talc products were contaminated with asbestos and caused ovarian and other cancers. To stop those lawsuits, J&J subsidiary Red River Talc filed for bankruptcy protection in a federal bankruptcy court in Houston.
The company has denied the allegations and has called its products safe.
Erik Haas, J&J’s worldwide vice president of litigation, said on Friday that the settlement is “fair and equitable to all parties” and that 83% of current talc claimants voted for it.
The settlement proposal has divided attorneys who represent cancer victims. Opponents of the deal said they will quickly ask the court to dismiss the bankruptcy or transfer it to New Jersey, where courts have twice rebuffed J&J’s attempts to end the litigation in a so-called “Texas two-step” bankruptcy.
