Johnson & Johnson agrees to $5.5bn settlement over ovarian cancer talc claims

NEW YORK: Johnson & Johnson announced on Monday that it has agreed to pay $5.5 billion to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging that its baby powder and other talc-based products caused ovarian cancer, marking one of the largest resolutions in the long-running legal battle over its talc products.

The proposed agreement covers approximately 69,000 lawsuits combined in federal court in New Jersey, along with related cases pending in state courts. According to the company, the settlement would resolve 99.75% of the remaining talc-related ovarian cancer claims.

Johnson & Johnson said the agreement will become final once it is accepted by 95% of the ovarian cancer claimants involved in the state and federal litigation, bringing the company closer to ending years of legal disputes over the safety of its talc products.

Plaintiffs’ law firms confirmed the deal on Monday, saying it was a good resolution after a decade-long court battle. The deal must be accepted by 95% of the ovarian cancer claimants in state or federal court before it becomes final.

J&J’s vice president of litigation, Erik Haas, said the claims were “meritless” and that the company was willing to settle in order to get closure.

“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 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 during J&J’s repeated failed attempts to resolve the lawsuits through a shell company’s bankruptcy.

Unlike the proposed bankruptcy settlements, Monday’s agreement applies only to existing claims and does not address future lawsuits.