(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday it has reached a tentative agreement to resolve a U.S. state investigation into whether it misled consumers about the safety of its talc products, about which thousands Lawsuits claim it can cause cancer.
The deal covers 42 states and Washington, DC. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company has agreed to temporarily pay about $700 million to settle claims from states.
“Consistent with the plan we made last year, the company continues to pursue multiple paths to achieving a comprehensive and final resolution of the talc litigation,” Eric Haas, J&J’s vice president of worldwide litigation, said in a statement.
The settlement does not extend to private plaintiffs’ cases against the company, some of which are expected to go to trial later this year.
J&J has said its now-discontinued talc products are safe and do not cause cancer. It previously set aside $400 million to resolve state claims.
The company, which reported fourth-quarter results on Tuesday, still faces more than 50,000 lawsuits over the talc, most of them by women suffering from ovarian cancer. A very small number of cases involve people with mesothelioma, a type of cancer linked to asbestos. It recently settled some mesothelioma cases for an undisclosed amount, but maintained that its talc does not contain asbestos.
The company has twice tried to resolve matters regarding its talc liabilities by entering bankruptcy, but both attempts were rejected by the courts.
In the latest failed bankruptcy attempt, the company had proposed paying $8.9 billion to talc claimants. J&J said last year it was planning a third bankruptcy filing.
Compromises with states could make this easier, as some states have previously argued that they, unlike private plaintiffs, can continue to pursue claims pending bankruptcy. The courts have not resolved that issue.
The record of trials in talc cases has been mixed, with victories for lead plaintiffs, including a $2.1 billion verdict awarded to 22 women with ovarian cancer in 2020.
In October a New Jersey appeals court ruled for $223.8 million against the company, finding the testimony of the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses inaccurate.
The company discontinued sales of talc-based baby powder in favor of cornstarch-based products, citing an increase in lawsuits and “misinformation” about the safety of the talc product.