A new proposed class action against Johnson & Johnson, which opens a new tab, is filed on behalf of women who have been diagnosed with cancer or may get it in the future. The lawsuit claims that the women used the company's talc products, including baby powder, and are now seeking damages and medical monitoring.
The first lawsuit on behalf of talc users to seek medical monitoring and regular testing intended to detect cancer early was filed on Monday and opened a new tab in federal court in New Jersey.
Thousands of women might be included in the proposed class, but those who have already filed personal injury lawsuits alleging asbestos from J&J's talc causes cancer would not be included.
According to J&J, their talc is safe, free of asbestos, and doesn't cause cancer.
The new lawsuit's legal firms are against J&J's plan to use a prepackaged bankruptcy to settle almost all of the talc claims against the company for USD 6.48 billion. In a different class action, the same companies are requesting a court order to stop the bankruptcy.
Seventy-five percent of talc claimants must vote in favor of the bankruptcy plan during the three-month voting period that ends on July 26.
Meritless Lawsuit
J&J's global vice president of litigation, Erik Haas, stated in a statement that the plaintiffs' attorneys filed the "meritless" lawsuit on Monday in an attempt to thwart the bankruptcy plan because they are able to collect higher fees outside of bankruptcy, prioritizing their own interests over those of their clients.
He declared, "The plaintiff firms should stop acting in an obstructionist manner and allow their clients to make the final decision about whether to accept the pending offer."
Previous Damage Control
Based on information gathered by reports, since 2014, juries have given consumers who blamed the powder for their cancer damages totaling more than USD 6.5 billion. On appeal, many of those awards were later lowered or overturned.
The plaintiffs are requesting that the judge certify a class of US women who have used talc between 1960 and the present and who have not yet filed a separate lawsuit. They also want dependent children, parents, and spouses to be included in the class.
According to the 137-page complaint, previously, TALC users wanted the judge to order J&J to establish a fund to cover monitoring expenses, including "baseline assessments, diagnostic testing, and preventative measures."
