Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has proposed an $8.9 billion settlement to resolve thousands of lawsuits accusing the company of selling baby powder and other talc products that caused cancer.
The pharma firm shared details of the proposal in an April 4 statement announcing that it has re-filed its subsidiary LTL Management LLC for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a move it said could “equitably and efficiently resolve all claims arising from cosmetic talc litigation against the Company and its affiliates in North America.”
Johnson & Johnson created the LTL subsidiary in October to house its liabilities stemming from more than 40,000 lawsuits alleging the company’s baby powder and other talc products contained traces of asbestos, which has been blamed for causing ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that affects the lining of the lungs….