NEW YORK – The multinational Johnson & Johnson (J&J) faced a second setback this year this Friday in a federal court in New Jersey in its attempt to put an end to thousands of lawsuits over the alleged presence of carcinogenic components in its talcum powder.
Judge Michael Kaplan ruled this Friday that the company cannot resort to the bankruptcy of the subsidiary LTL Management, which it created to deal with these cases, to pressure the plaintiffs to accept his proposal of $ 8.900 million and thus end the litigation, of according to CNBC.
According to the company, that amount would be paid out over 25 years to end all existing and future talcum powder claims in North America.
But, for the second time in six months the company has faced the same court decision, which dismissed LTL Management’s bankruptcy case. Johnson & Johnson created this unit in 2021 and concentrated on the subsidiary the possible responsibilities for these cases, after which it declared bankruptcy.
Kaplan noted in his opinion that the second bankruptcy attempt should be dismissed because the subsidiary is not in “imminent” or “immediate financial difficulties.”
J&J claims that this second court decision jeopardizes the deal. J&J has previously noted that 60,000 plaintiffs had pledged to vote in favor of the proposal, CNBC further notes.
He also indicated that after learning of the court’s decision, the company indicated that its subsidiary had begun its bankruptcy case “in good faith” and “in strict compliance with the Bankruptcy Code.”
The company has reaffirmed that research and clinical evidence show that its talc products remain safe.
