U.S. Court Rejects Johnson & Johnson Bankruptcy Tactic for Thousands of Talcum Powder Lawsuits

Slack Davis Sanger represents more than a dozen clients in class-action suit

Today a federal appeals court rejected Johnson & Johnson’s strategy to resolve the multibillion-dollar
litigation over claims its talc products cause cancer. The U.S. 3rd Circuit of Appeals in Philadelphia removed
from bankruptcy the company’s LTL Management unit, which was facing more than 35,000 legal claims
tied to products such as their baby powder.

 

J&J created and spun off LTL and assigned its talc liabilities to the unit and then placed it in bankruptcy
in 2021. J&J had argued that bankruptcy provided a way to resolve tens of thousands of legal claims
more fairly and quickly than taking the cases to trial individually.

 

“The bankruptcy tactic being dismissed today is excellent news for our clients and the thousands of
women who have filed lawsuits against J&J,” said John R. Davis, partner at Slack Davis Sanger, who
handles over a dozen clients suing the company. “Talc, including talc containing asbestos, has been
linked to a variety of harmful diseases such as ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. Sufferers who have
had their lives completely changed, due to using these products, deserve their cases to be heard by a
jury in the course of normal civil litigation, against the financially solvent J&J entities.”

 

Davis continued, “The Court was right to find that the bankruptcy was not filed in good faith. Johnson &
Johnson cannot use bankruptcy to protect itself from these lawsuits because neither J&J nor its spinoff
entities were actually in financial distress.”

 

Thousands of women have sued Johnson & Johnson for failing to warn them about cancer risks related to
use of the company’s talcum powder products, which allege J&J’s knowledge of these health issues going
back decades.

 

Since 1993, Slack Davis Sanger has been serving clients nationally and internationally with personal injury
claims, wrongful death, and medical malpractice claims. With a combined experience of more than 250
years, Slack Davis Sanger attorneys have extensive experience in litigation involving class action lawsuits
and whistleblower cases.

For more information or to speak with John Davis, please contact Marketing Manager Stephanie Eitrheim at 512-225-5322 or seitrheim@slackdavis.com.