Johnson & Johnson’s Third Bankruptcy Case for Talc Lawsuits Thrown Out
On 4/1/25, a US bankruptcy judge dismissed Johnson & Johnson’s (“J&J”) third attempt to resolve its mass talc liabilities through chapter 11, rejecting the company’s latest bid to end one of the largest-ever mass torts. J& J had set up an “affiliate” corporation to J&J, and had the affiliate corporation file bankruptcy ins Texas. J&J put the liabilities for the mass tort suits suing J&J, for J&J’s talc baby powder allegedly causing people to get cancer, particularly allegedly causing women to get ovarian cancer. Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston dismissed a J&J affiliate’s chapter 11 case after finding the company used a flawed process to solicit votes from tens of thousands of personal-injury claimants. The judge’s decision dealt a serious setback to the company’s yearslong drive to achieve a resolution in chapter 11 of the mass lawsuits linking its iconic talc-based baby powder to cancer. Comment of The Bankruptcy Law Firm, PC: The Bankruptcy Code is not designed, or intended, to be used as a way to get rid of liability for massive tort suits, except there is a special Bankruptcy Code provision allowing asbestos mass tort suits to be treated in bankruptcy.