Johnson and Johnson’s first bankruptcy filing for its talc subsidiary, LTL, was dismissed, and their petition for rehearing en banc was denied by the the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Despite this landmark ruling, J&J is again seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy for LTL. In LTL’s new bankruptcy filing, the company has proposed a settlement offer to pay $8.9 billion to talc victims. However, for this deal to become final, the court would have to first approve LTL’s second attempt at bankruptcy, then later rule on the settlement itself.
If LTL’s bankruptcy were to be approved by the court, the company would pay out the settlement amount over the course of 25 years through a bankruptcy trust. All current and future lawsuits would then be channeled to the trust, where each plaintiff would file a claim to be processed according to the bankruptcy plan.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan is expected to decide whether to approve or dismiss LTL’s bankruptcy by early August. In the meantime, Judge Kaplan has granted a stay which halts pending litigation for talc lawsuits filed against J&J. The terms of this stay are narrower than J&J requested, as it still allows new lawsuits to be filed. This stay halted roughly 38,000 talc lawsuits consolidated in a federal district court in New Jersey, but allows other cases to proceed as long as no trials commence.
Shelby Roden filed one of the first federal talc lawsuits against J&J and will continue to monitor the ongoing litigation alleging claims related to ovarian cancer. If you or a family member have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, please contact our office at 205-933-8383 for a free consultation.