Johnson & Johnson said Monday that it plans to pay an estimated $5.5 billion to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits claiming its baby powder and other talc-based products caused ovarian cancer, a major agreement that could bring an end to a decade of high-stakes litigation for the healthcare giant.
The company said the proposed Johnson & Johnson talc settlement would cover roughly 76,000 claims, including cases grouped in federal court in New Jersey as well as related lawsuits filed in state courts. Together, those cases account for nearly all remaining talc claims against J&J. The company has already resolved most lawsuits alleging that its talc products contained asbestos and caused mesothelioma.
Law firms representing plaintiffs confirmed the agreement on Monday, describing it as a favorable outcome after years of courtroom battles. For the deal to become final, it must be approved by 95% of ovarian cancer claimants with cases in state or federal court.
Erik Haas, J&J’s vice president of litigation, maintained that the allegations were “meritless,” but said the company agreed to settle to achieve finality.
“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 expects to make a $3 billion payment in 2027, followed by additional payments in 2028. The final value of the settlement, however, could rise depending on how many eligible claimants choose to take part.
Chris Seeger, a lawyer representing about 2,500 clients with talc-related claims and one of the attorneys who helped negotiate the deal, said Johnson & Johnson’s total payout could eventually reach $7 billion or more. He said the agreement sets specific values for qualifying ovarian cancer claims but does not place a ceiling on the company’s overall liability.
“We got a fair settlement, and our clients are going to be happy with it,” Seeger said in an interview.
DEAL COMES AFTER COURTROOM WINS
J&J reached the settlement after a series of wins in court, including victories in individual trials, successful efforts to disqualify plaintiffs’ lawyers from the litigation, and court rulings against experts that plaintiffs had used to prove their cases in court.
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 U.S. in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product.
The litigation resumed in March 2025, after being put on hold for more than three years while J&J unsuccessfully pursued a strategy known as the “Texas two step,” filing three bankruptcies through a shell-company subsidiary in an effort to settle the cases. Each bankruptcy ended in dismissal.
Before the bankruptcy attempts, J&J had a mixed record in talc trials, with a multibillion verdict in favor of 22 women who said baby powder caused their ovarian cancer. The company won some trials outright and had other verdicts reduced on appeal.
Unlike the proposed bankruptcy settlements, Monday’s agreement applies only to existing claims and does not address future lawsuits.
The exclusion of future claims made more money available to current plaintiffs than the bankruptcy proposal did, and it also accelerates the payments so that all claims will be paid within 18 months instead of being spread out over more than a decade, Seeger said.
