Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has agreed to pay up to $5.5 billion to settle approximately 69,000 lawsuits in the United States alleging that its talc-based baby powder caused ovarian cancer, bringing a close to one of the longest-running product liability battles in American corporate history. The New Jersey-based healthcare giant announced the deal on Monday, July 28, saying it covers 99.75 percent of outstanding talc-related claims in US federal and state courts. The settlement must first be accepted by legal firms representing at least 95 percent of claimants before it can be finalised, with J&J offering up to $3 billion in the first payment next year and no additional disbursements due before 2028.
J&J has consistently denied that its talc products caused cancer, with its litigation head Erik Haas describing the allegations as "meritless" and stating that the company was confident it would have "ultimately prevailed with further litigation." Despite this, Haas said the resolution "allows the company to put this matter behind it" and refocus on developing medicines and devices. The company stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the United States in 2020 and phased it out globally in 2022–2023, switching to a cornstarch-based formula. Lawsuits over the product date back to at least 2009, and a landmark 2016 case — in which a jury awarded $72 million to the family of a woman who died of ovarian cancer — helped accelerate the wave of claims, even after that verdict was later overturned.
Talc is a naturally occurring soft mineral composed of magnesium, silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen, long prized for its smooth texture and widely used in cosmetics and baby products. At the heart of the litigation is the allegation that talc mined from the earth can be contaminated with asbestos, a material known to cause cancer, as the two minerals are often found in adjacent seams. In 2024, the World Health Organization classified talc as "probably carcinogenic to humans," lending further weight to plaintiffs' claims. The litigation had been stalled for over three years while J&J made repeated, ultimately unsuccessful attempts to resolve the lawsuits by routing liability through a shell company's bankruptcy — a legal manoeuvre that courts declined to endorse. Proceedings formally resumed in March 2025.
The settlement caps a turbulent legal journey that saw J&J win a significant procedural victory just days before the announcement, when a federal judge questioned whether individual plaintiffs could demonstrate that talc specifically — rather than other factors — caused their ovarian cancer. Plaintiffs' lawyers nonetheless welcomed the $5.5 billion deal as a fair resolution after a decade of courtroom battles.
The agreement does not extend beyond North America. The largest product liability case in UK legal history, filed in October 2025 and covering more than 7,000 potential claimants, is currently before the UK High Court. That case alleges J&J knew its talc could cause ovarian cancer and mesothelioma but continued selling the product — a claim the company also denies. Liability for Johnson's baby powder outside North America rests with Kenvue, J&J's former consumer health division, which was spun off in 2022 and also owns brands including Band-Aid, Listerine, and Calpol.