Talc and cancer | Final agreement between Johnson & Johnson and the courts of 42 American states

(New York) The American pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J & J) has reached a final agreement with the courts of 42 states of the United States in a case of talc accused of causing cancer, the office of the New York prosecutor.


The group announced on January 23 that it had reached an agreement in principle with a consortium of prosecutors. But he had not confirmed the amount of 700 million dollars mentioned by several media.

New York State Attorney Letitia James explained in a statement Tuesday that the deal had been finalized and that J&J had indeed agreed to pay $700 million.

The State of New York must receive 44 million of this total envelope, which must be paid in four installments over three years.

Talc is accused of containing asbestos and causing ovarian cancer.

“As part of the plan we designed last year, the group continues to take various steps to achieve a final and complete resolution of the talc matter,” explained Erik Hass, vice president of J & J responsible for legal affairs, in a statement sent to AFP on Tuesday.

This “includes the finalization of the previously announced agreement” with the consortium, he continued.

The group proposed an $8.9 billion agreement in April 2023 to settle all “present and future talc” complaints in North America.

Johnson & Johnson had indicated that this did not constitute an admission of guilt, continuing to assert that its talc was “safe” – even though it withdrew it from the North American market in 2020.

It specified that more than 60,000 complainants had given their green light for such a resolution. But a bankruptcy judge rejected the planned arrangement.

At the beginning of May, the group announced that it was prepared to pay approximately $6.5 billion over twenty-five years for civil complaints related to ovarian problems (99.75% of current complaints). It must be accepted by at least 75% of complainants to be valid.

“We will continue to manage complaints from those who do not want to participate in our resolution through a consensual bankruptcy plan, through trials or through out-of-court settlements,” Mr. Hass added on Tuesday.

A summary of studies, published in January 2020 and covering 250,000 women in the United States, did not find a statistical link between the use of talc on the genitals and the risk of ovarian cancer.

In the 1970s, concern arose about the contamination of talc by asbestos, often close in nature to the ores used to make talc. Then studies showed a higher risk of ovarian cancer among talcum powder users.


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