NEW YORK - Johnson & Johnson said on July 27 it would pay US$5.5 billion (S$7 billion) to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its baby powder and other talc products cause ovarian cancer, in a landmark settlement aimed at closing a chapter of contentious litigation that has dogged the company for years.

J&J said the settlement covers about 69,000 cases consolidated in federal court in New Jersey, and related cases in state court, totaling 99.75 per cent of the remaining talc claims.

Plaintiffs’ law firms confirmed the deal on July 27, saying it was a good resolution after a decade-long court battle. The deal must still be approved by the judge overseeing the federal litigation.

J&J’s vice-president of litigation, Erik Haas, said the claims were “meritless” and that the company was willing to settle in order to get closure.

“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.

J&J won a significant court victory in the long-running legal battle last week, when a federal judge cast doubt on individual plaintiffs’ ability to prove that talc specifically caused their ovarian cancer.

J&J has long denied that its talc products caused cancer, saying that talc was safe and did not contain asbestos. The company stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product.

The litigation resumed in March 2025, after being put on hold for more than three years during J&J’s repeated failed attempts to resolve the lawsuits through a shell company’s bankruptcy.

Unlike the proposed bankruptcy settlements, the agreement on July 27 applies only to existing claims and does not address future lawsuits. REUTERS

Johnson & Johnson announces $7 billion settlement of talc lawsuits