Фармацевтикийн аварга компани тальк агуулсан бүтээгдэхүүнүүд нь өндгөвчний хорт хавдар үүсгэсэн гэх 76 мянга орчим нэхэмжлэлийг шийдвэрлэхээр тохиролцоонд хүрлээ.
Johnson & Johnson компани өндгөвчний хорт хавдартай холбоотой олон арван мянган нэхэмжлэлийг шийдвэрлэх зорилгоор 5.5 тэрбум ам.долларын урьдчилсан төлбөр төлөхөөр болсноо даваа гарагт зарлалаа. Энэхүү тохиролцоо нь АНУ-ын Нью-Жерси мужийн холбооны шүүх болон муж улсын шүүхүүдэд хянагдаж буй 76 мянга орчим нэхэмжлэлийг хамрах бөгөөд тус компанийн эсрэг үүсгээд буй тальктай холбоотой бараг бүх маргааныг эцэслэх юм.
Компанийн зүгээс нэхэмжлэлүүдийг үндэслэлгүй хэмээн байр сууриа илэрхийлсээр ирсэн ч асуудлыг нэг мөр шийдвэрлэж, үндсэн үйл ажиллагаандаа анхаарал хандуулах үүднээс ийм шийдвэрт хүрснээ мэдэгдэв. Тохиролцоог эцсийн байдлаар баталгаажуулахын тулд нэхэмжлэгчдийн 95 хувийн зөвшөөрөл шаардлагатай бөгөөд төлбөрийг 2027 болон 2028 онд хуваан олгохоор төлөвлөжээ.
Хуулийн мэргэжилтнүүдийн үзэж буйгаар тус тохиролцооны нийт дүн нь нэхэмжлэгчдийн оролцооноос хамаарч 7 тэрбум ам.долларт хүрэх боломжтой юм. Энэхүү шийдвэр нь ирээдүйд үүсэх нэхэмжлэлүүдийг бус, зөвхөн одоо байгаа нэхэмжлэлүүдийг зохицуулах бөгөөд 18 сарын хугацаанд төлбөрийг барагдуулахаар тусгасан байна.
Johnson & Johnson нь өмнө нь тальк агуулсан бүтээгдэхүүнүүддээ асбест агуулагдаж, мезотелиома өвчин үүсгэсэн гэх хэргүүдийг мөн тохиролцооны журмаар шийдвэрлэж байсан юм. Тус компани 2020 онд АНУ-д тальк агуулсан хүүхдийн цацлага худалдаалахыг зогсоож, эрдэнэшишийн цардуулд суурилсан бүтээгдэхүүн рүү шилжсэн байна.
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Johnson & Johnson has announced a provisional settlement of an estimated $5.5 billion to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its talc-based products, including baby powder, caused ovarian cancer.
This landmark agreement could bring an end to a contentious legal battle that has plagued the pharmaceutical giant for a decade.
The proposed settlement encompasses approximately 76,000 claims, including those consolidated in federal court in New Jersey and related cases in state courts, representing nearly all outstanding talc-related allegations against the company.
J&J had previously settled the majority of cases asserting that its talc contained asbestos and led to mesothelioma.
Plaintiff law firms confirmed the deal on Monday, describing it as a positive resolution following the protracted court proceedings.
For the agreement to become final, it requires acceptance from 95 per cent of the ovarian cancer claimants across state or federal jurisdictions. Erik Haas, J&J’s vice president of litigation, maintained that the claims were “meritless” but stated the company was willing to settle to achieve “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 expects to pay $3 billion in 2027, and it will make further payments in 2028. But the deal could be worth more, depending on how many people participate in the settlement.
Chris Seeger, an attorney who represents about 2,500 clients with talc claims and helped negotiate the agreement, said J&J could ultimately pay $7 billion or more. The settlement assigns specific values to qualifying ovarian cancer claims but does not cap J&J’s total payout, he said.
“We got a fair settlement, and our clients are going to be happy with it,” Seeger said in an interview.
J&J reached the settlement after a series of wins in court, including victories in individual trials, successful efforts to disqualify plaintiffs’ lawyers from the litigation, and court rulings against experts that plaintiffs had used to prove their cases in court.
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 while J&J unsuccessfully pursued a strategy known as the “Texas two step,” filing three bankruptcies through a shell-company subsidiary in an effort to settle the cases. Each bankruptcy ended in dismissal.
Before the bankruptcy attempts, J&J had a mixed record in talc trials, with a multibillion verdict in favor of 22 women who said baby powder caused their ovarian cancer. The company won some trials outright and had other verdicts reduced on appeal.
Unlike the proposed bankruptcy settlements, Monday’s agreement applies only to existing claims and does not address future lawsuits.
The exclusion of future claims made more money available to current plaintiffs than the bankruptcy proposal did, and it also accelerates the payments so that all claims will be paid within 18 months instead of being spread out over more than a decade, Seeger said.
