Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has agreed to pay US$5.5 billion to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its talc-based baby powder and other products caused ovarian cancer, marking a major step towards ending years of litigation.
The healthcare giant said the agreement covers around 69,000 federal cases in New Jersey and related state court claims, representing 99.75% of its remaining talc lawsuits. The settlement still requires approval from the judge overseeing the federal proceedings.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers described the deal as a positive outcome after a legal battle spanning more than a decade.
J&J has continued to deny that its talc products caused cancer or contained asbestos. Erik Haas, the company’s vice-president of litigation, maintained the claims were without merit but said the settlement would allow the company to move forward.
“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.”
The agreement comes just days after J&J secured a favourable court ruling in which a federal judge questioned whether individual plaintiffs could prove talc specifically caused their ovarian cancer.
The company stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US in 2020, replacing it with a cornstarch-based alternative.
The lawsuits resumed in March 2025 after being paused for more than three years while J&J made several unsuccessful attempts to resolve the claims through a bankruptcy strategy involving a subsidiary.
Unlike those earlier proposals, the latest settlement applies only to existing lawsuits and does not cover any future talc-related claims.
