California state government will get a share of a $700 million deal reached between a coalition of 43 U.S. states and Johnson & Johnson to settle claims the company allegedly misled consumers about the safety of their baby powder and other products allegedly containing cancer-causing asbestos.
The settlement was announced on June 11 by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and many other attorneys general across the U.S.
“Johnson & Johnson knew that it could not ensure the safety of its products for women and children and chose to prioritize profit over honesty. It's unacceptable, and for the people who were harmed, it's devastating,” said Bonta in a prepared statement.
While other states announced how much they would receive under the deal - Illinois, for instance, said it would receive $29 million - California's release does not indicate the amount of its cut.
California was one of a group of 43 states that filed consumer fraud and deception lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson over its baby powder and body powder products.
The legal action was led by the attorneys general of Florida, North Carolina and Texas, with the other states following up with legal complaints of their own, to stake their claims to a share of any potential payout from the company.
J&J and the states announced a settlement in principle in January. On June 11, the company and states revealed the settlement would require J&J to pay $700 million, with each state receiving a share of the settlement fund.
Those state actions were just a part of a sprawling mass of litigation that has been launched against the company over claims its talc products allegedly may have caused ovarian cancer and other illnesses.
According to published reports, more than 61,000 lawsuits have been filed against J&J by private and public entities, as well as shareholders.
In many of those lawsuits, plaintiffs lawyers have backed their cases with testimony from experts, who have been paid to testify talc powder contains asbestos in quantities high enough to cause cancer. That testimony at times came from the same experts who had testified in separate proceedings over industrial asbestos exposure that talc did not contain enough asbestos to cause cancer.
The company has continuously denied its talc products caused cancer and has vigorously contested the scientific basis for the carcinogenic claims. J&J recently accused a prominent talc expert witness of fraud, asserting she has testified repeatedly about anonymous mesothelioma victims she said had no known exposure to asbestos other than talc, when she had earlier testified about such exposure from other products.
Other expert witnesses have testified in support of talc asbestos lawsuits, despite calling such causation theories "urban legend" or having earlier admitted to bank fraud and money laundering.
Some of J&J's efforts have borne success in court. A New Jersey appeals court, for instance, tossed out a $224 million verdict, ruling certain common experts should not have been allowed to testify.
But other cases have resulted in massive verdicts, collectively worth billions of dollars.
The company has reportedly designated $11 billion to fund its potential liabilities under the lawsuits and in May proposed a $6.5 billion settlement to end most of the lawsuits as part of bankruptcy proceedings.
In addition to paying $700 million to the 43 states, under the settlement with the states, J&J has also agreed to:
* Cease and not resume the manufacturing, marketing, promotion, sale, and distribution of all baby and body powder products and cosmetic powder products that contain talcum powder in the U.S.;
* Permanently stop the manufacture of any of the covered products in the U.S. either directly or through a third party;
* Permanently stop marketing and promoting any of the covered products in the U.S. either directly or through a third party;
* Permanently stop the sale or distribution of any of the covered products in the U.S. either directly or through a third party.
Other states involved in the action included Arizona, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Washington. Joining the settlement are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
In a statement published by Reuters, J&J worldwide vice president of litigation Erik Haas said: "The company continues to pursue several paths to achieve a comprehensive and final resolution of the talc litigation. We will continue to address the claims of those who do not want to participate in our contemplated consensual bankruptcy resolution through litigation or settlement."
The settlement with the states must still approved by the court.