Judge Rejects Johnson and Johnson’s Effort to Limit Talc-Related Liabilities
Once again this year, Johnson and Johnson’s faced a second court ruling against its attempt to use a bankruptcy case to limit its liability in thousands of lawsuits asserting that its talcum powder products were responsible for causing cancer. According to the plaintiffs, the company was aware of the potential risks associated with its talc products, including the well-known baby powder , for several decades. Protecting from talc-related litigation The company established a subsidiary named LTL Management in 2021 to protect itself from talc-related litigation. The plan was for this subsidiary, which had filed for bankruptcy, to settle all the claims against it by paying $8.9 billion. However, Judge Michael Kaplan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey ruled on Friday that LTL’s bankruptcy case should be dismissed, stating that the lawsuits did not put the company in immediate financial distress. This dismissal echoes an earlier decision this year when t...