Federal Bankruptcy Judge Approves Unusual Move for Johnson & Johnson

Yesterday on August 26th, 2021, a Federal Bankruptcy Judge denied a Motion by a group of Talcum Powder Lawsuit plaintiff’s attorneys requesting that the Federal Bankruptcy Court prohibit Johnson & Johnson from spinning off their talcum powder business separate and apart from their other, profitable business units.  In a move

commonly referred to as a Texas two step bankruptcy, Johnson & Johnson may now be able to place their baby powder products business in a separate corporate entity and thereby limit their total legal liability and use the bankruptcy laws to insulate those business from Talc Powder losses.

What does this mean?

For starters, if you have used Johnson & Johnson talcum based products previously and have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer you should move quickly to file a claim.  This potential corporate restructuring by J&J may limit the amount recoverable for talc powder claims.

Talcum powder claims number in the thousands and have caused tremendous harm to users for decades.  Not only did the company market the product to parents with newborns but also to women. They even targeted women of color – and advocacy groups have come out against the brand.

While thousands of these lawsuits are still pending – the volume of women impacted is in the hundreds of thousands and the damages are likely to be in the billions.  In fact, Johnson & Johnson disclosed in securities filings that they have set aside a minimum of $3.9 billion dollars to cover legal claims related to talcum powder injuries.

This is why the latest move by a federal bankruptcy judge out of Texas has us scratching our heads and is a first of its kind. By failing to prohibit J&J from essentially hiding their asses from these talcum powder lawsuits will likely result in painful repercussions for victims who have suffered from the product.

Overall, it will result in the victims being dragged through a longer, and more drawn-out process between the bankruptcy court proceedings and the settlement proceedings which, could likely be much smaller then originally anticipated due to the bankruptcy protection of J&J’s other business assets.

What to do now if you think you may be eligible for the Talcum Powder lawsuit?

First, don’t delay.  Not only are talcum powder based legal claims limited by individual State filing periods, further delays may mean that a smaller pool of assets will be available for any future recovery.  By acting now to begin the litigation process, you will be acting to preserve and maximize any recovery that you may be eligible for.  Our Talcum Powder lawsuit lawyers are reviewing claims of women who have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer daily.  Call today or complete the contact form on our website for a free, no obligation talcum powder case consultation.