Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is a major company that has dominated the health and beauty industries for decades. The company’s brands are well known. Some of them have recently come under scrutiny because of their association with certain health issues. A combination of medical documentation connecting contaminated talc powder to reproductive cancers and internal memos from J&J indicating the company was aware of potential asbestos contamination have led to numerous lawsuits filed by those with otherwise inexplicable cancers.
Some of those who used J&J products, like baby powder and suffered harm as a result, have filed major financial claims against the company, some of which have resulted in multi-million dollar judgments. J&J continues to appeal those decisions and to attempt to limit responsibility through bankruptcy. Yet, a federal judge recently dismissed a second attempt by the company to limit financial obligations related to talc powder claims.
J&J wants to avoid responsibility
Whenever someone brings a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson related to cancer that they believe began with contaminated talk powder, the company typically aggressively defends against those claims in civil court. When the company loses, it will then generally exhaust every option for appeal in an attempt to avoid financial responsibility for sickening people with unsafe products.
Additionally, the company has begun to look at other ways of avoiding financial responsibility. The business has now twice filed for bankruptcy in a means to control talc-related lawsuit losses. The first case wound up dismissed by a federal judge. A second judge out of New Jersey followed the prior judge’s example at the end of July 2023.
After reviewing the company’s filing, the judge determined that the company was not in any immediate danger of insolvency or financial hardship related to the talc lawsuits it faces. Simply put, the multinational corporation has the resources to compensate those sickened by its products and awarded compensation by the courts. The dismissal of this bankruptcy filing is a promising sign for those who hope to pursue a claim against Johnson and Johnson in the future. Should a bankruptcy eventually succeed, perhaps because of the continued financial pressure generated by talc lawsuits against the company, people will then need to pursue compensation from a bankruptcy trust that the business would need to establish.
Following important rulings related to contaminated talc powder lawsuits may benefit those who believe their illness or the cancer a loved one developed resulted from contaminated health and beauty products.