Cancer victims sue Johnson & Johnson over 'fraudulent' bankruptcies
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[May 23, 2024]
By Dietrich Knauth
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A group of cancer victims sued Johnson & Johnson on
Wednesday, accusing the healthcare company of committing fraud through
repeated and continued efforts to use a shell company's bankruptcy to
resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its talc products
contained asbestos and caused cancer.
Five plaintiffs who seek to represent over 50,000 people who have sued
J&J over its talc products filed the proposed class action in New Jersey
federal court. They allege that J&J's bankruptcy strategy put billions
of dollars out of the reach of plaintiffs in an attempt to "hinder,
delay, and defraud these women and prevent them from ever having their
day in court."
"Johnson & Johnson is playing a dark game of chess with this country's
financial and judicial systems," said Mike Papantonio, an attorney for
the cancer plaintiffs.
J&J's worldwide vice president of litigation, Erik Haas, said the
lawsuit was a "Hail Mary pass" by plaintiffs' lawyers who don't want
their clients to vote on the company's latest proposed bankruptcy
settlement.
"Why are they so desperate to stop the vote?" Haas said. "Our focus has
been and will remain reaching a full, fair and final resolution of this
litigation, and allowing the claimants to speak for themselves."
Most of the talc lawsuits have been brought by women with ovarian
cancer, while other cases involve people with mesothelioma, a deadly
cancer linked to asbestos exposure.
J&J has said that its baby powder and other talc products are safe, do
not contain asbestos, and do not cause cancer.
J&J first used a corporate maneuver called the "Texas two-step" to place
its talc liabilities into a new subsidiary that then filed for
bankruptcy in 2021. The bankruptcy stopped the lawsuits from moving
ahead against J&J, although it did not file for bankruptcy itself.
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Bottles of Johnson & Johnson baby powder line a drugstore shelf in
New York October 15, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo
That and a second similar attempt to
resolve the litigation failed as courts ruled that J&J and its
subsidiary was not in financial distress so not eligible for
bankruptcy. The company said on May 1 that it plans to pursue a
third bankruptcy once it gets enough votes to support a $6.48
billion talc settlement.
Wednesday's lawsuit seeks a ruling that the Texas two-step
transaction was fraudulent, because it was undertaken solely to
shelter J&J's assets from the talc litigation.
Subsequent transactions, including J&J's spinoff of its consumer
health business Kenvue, were also fraudulent, according to the
lawsuit, which also seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
J&J says the planned third bankruptcy for its unit will be different
because it will have support from over 75% of the people with
talc-related claims.
The company has streamlined the proposed third bankruptcy by
reaching separate settlements with law firms representing people
with mesothelioma, as well as U.S. states that alleged the company
failed to warn consumers about the dangers of its talc products.
Litigation against J&J resumed after its second bankruptcy was
dismissed. In recent trials, J&J was ordered to pay $45 million in a
mesothelioma case while winning an ovarian cancer case.
(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill
Berkrot)
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