As Johnson & Johnson continues to attempt to Texas two-step its way around thousands of claims that its popular talcum powder-based products caused cancer, the drugmaker is putting up hundreds of millions of dollars to settle a longstanding dispute with suppliers.
Johnson & Johnson has proposed a settlement that would see it pay at least $505 million to the bankrupt talc miners Imerys Talc America and Cyprus Mines Corporation by Dec. 31, 2025. J&J’s payments would go, in part, toward the miners’ settlement trust for talc claimants, according to documents filed in bankruptcy court late last week.
Under the proposed agreement, J&J would make an initial payment of $225 million, followed by another $280 million in insurance proceeds from company policies.
The development comes after Imerys and Cyprus filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and 2021, respectively, in their own attempts to shield themselves against talc liabilities.
Though other companies make talc, Imerys had historically been J&J’s sole supplier for its cosmetic talc products. Talc lawsuits against the big pharma company have often named Imerys a co-defendant, according to previous legal filings.
Imerys and Cyprus’ qualms with J&J come down to certain indemnification agreements that the companies claim should protect them from cancer liability. But according to Imerys’ 2019 bankruptcy filing, J&J had at the time denied those indemnity agreements existed or disputed their terms.
Meanwhile, the talc miner settlement comes amid a protracted legal back-and-forth for J&J, which has been battling claims about its talc-based products for years.
As part of J&J's latest bankruptcy plan for its talc litigation subsidiary, the company has offered nearly $6.5 billion in settlement funds to ovarian cancer plaintiffs. As it stands, plaintiffs are weighing the proposal and are set to vote by July 26 whether to accept it.