Johnson & Johnson will pay out $5.5bn to settle US ovarian cancer talc claims
Written by Mary O'Shaughnessy - 04 August 2026
US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has proposed a $5.5bn settlement to resolve most of the remaining lawsuits alleging that its talc products caused ovarian cancer, in a move that may bring a decade of litigation closer to an end. Provided 95% of eligible claimants accept the deal, the agreement would resolve around 76,000 lawsuits in the US.
Previously, claims have referred to possible asbestos contamination of talc powder in causing mesothelioma, an aggressive form of lung cancer. J&J has resolved most mesothelioma cases, denying that its talc products contained any carcinogens.
However, this new proposed settlement is directed at claims which allege that the talc within J&J’s products, particularly its talc baby powder, was directly responsible for causing ovarian cancer. A 2025 review in the Journal of Clinical Medicine suggests that the use of talc powder in the genital area can lead to talc particles migrating and becoming embedded in ovarian tissue, leading to inflammation of the reproductive tract. This inflammation can facilitate the development of cancer cells.
J&J continue to deny these allegations, framing the settlement as a matter of closure rather than an admission of responsibility. This is despite the fact that J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US in 2020 and in the UK in 2023, choosing to switch to a cornstarch-based product instead. Erik Haas, the company’s Worldwide Vice President of Litigation, announced in a press release that “while we are confident the company would have ultimately prevailed with further litigation… this resolution allows the company to put this matter behind it”.
The settlement follows years of procedural manoeuvring. J&J has previously attempted to use a legal strategy often described as the “Texas two-step,” by placing talc liabilities into a subsidiary in an effort to channel claims into bankruptcy proceedings. However, courts dismissed those bankruptcy attempts, and the litigation resumed in 2025.
For claimants, the proposal could offer a faster route to compensation than continued litigation, although payments will depend on eligibility, participation levels and the settlement’s final approval. For Johnson & Johnson, the deal would remove a major source of legal uncertainty, while allowing the company to maintain its denial of allegations placed against it.