J&J Talcum Powder Lawsuit: Bankruptcies, Verdicts, and Current Status

The Johnson & Johnson talcum powder lawsuits are a mass tort of more than 68,000 pending cases alleging that the company’s talc-based baby powder was contaminated with asbestos and caused ovarian cancer or mesothelioma. After three failed attempts to resolve the claims through bankruptcy, J&J is now defending cases individually in state and federal courts while court-ordered mediation continues in the federal multidistrict litigation. There is no global settlement, and no universal claims fund.

What the Lawsuits Allege

The core claim is that J&J’s talc products, including Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower, sometimes contained asbestos and caused cancer in long-term users. The two injuries at the center of the litigation are ovarian cancer, tied to genital use of the powder, and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs or abdomen linked to asbestos exposure. A federal judge has dismissed talc claims involving gynecologic cancers other than ovarian cancer, narrowing the MDL to those two diseases.1Sokolove Law. Talcum Powder Lawsuit Updates

Plaintiffs allege that J&J knew for decades that its talc sometimes tested positive for asbestos and did not disclose those results. Internal company documents from 1971 to the early 2000s show occasional positive tests, and the earliest internal reports of fibrous tremolite in J&J talc date to 1957. A 1969 memo shows a company executive being advised to keep tremolite content to “an absolute minimum” to avoid potential litigation. In 1976, J&J told the FDA that no asbestos was found in samples tested between 1972 and 1973 without disclosing that at least three labs had found asbestos in its talc during the same period, with one report describing levels as “rather high.” A New Jersey Superior Court judge in 2018 called that pattern “a form of misrepresentation by omission.”2Reuters. Johnson and Johnson Knew for Decades That Asbestos Lurked in Its Baby Powder

J&J has consistently maintained that its products are safe and asbestos-free, arguing that minerals detected in testing were non-asbestiform “cleavage fragments” rather than true asbestos. The FDA’s 2009–2010 survey of talc-containing cosmetics found no asbestos in any samples tested. But in October 2019, the FDA found “sub-trace levels” of chrysotile asbestos in a single bottle of Johnson’s Baby Powder, prompting J&J to voluntarily recall that lot.3U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Johnson and Johnson Consumer Inc. Voluntary Recall of Single Lot of Johnsons Baby Powder

The Three Rejected Bankruptcies

For four years, J&J tried to route all talc claims into bankruptcy court instead of defending them one by one. The strategy, known as the “Texas two-step,” used a Texas divisional merger to create a subsidiary, load it with the talc liabilities, and put that entity into Chapter 11. That would trigger an automatic stay freezing all pending lawsuits.

Courts rejected the plan three times.

The first filing in 2021 used a subsidiary called LTL Management LLC. In January 2023, the Third Circuit dismissed the case, holding that LTL was not in genuine financial distress because J&J had backstopped its obligations through a funding agreement worth up to $61.5 billion. The court wrote that “good intentions — such as to protect the J&J brand or comprehensively resolve litigation — do not suffice alone” to establish good faith.4United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In Re LTL Management LLC LTL refiled immediately, and both the bankruptcy court and the Third Circuit dismissed that second case, with the appellate ruling coming in July 2024.5Brown Rudnick. Brown Rudnick Reps Talc Claimants Committee in Third Texas Two-Step Bankruptcy Case

The third attempt used a new subsidiary, Red River Talc LLC, filed in Texas in September 2024. J&J proposed an $8 billion to $9 billion trust paid over 25 years and claimed 83% of claimants had voted in favor. On March 31, 2025, Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez dismissed the case in a 57-page opinion. He found “voting irregularities,” including unreasonably short voting windows, unauthorized votes cast by law firms, and improper vote switches, and concluded that J&J had pursued 75% approval “at any cost.” The plan also included impermissible third-party releases that violated Fifth Circuit precedent.6Marin Murphy Law. Bankruptcy Court Rejects Red River Talc Plan, Dismisses J&J Talcum Powder Case7Bailey Glasser. BG Wins Dismissal of Johnson and Johnson Third Bankruptcy

After the third dismissal, J&J said it would not appeal or file another bankruptcy case and would “return to the tort system.”8Creditor Coalition. Red River Talc Finally Says Good-Bye to Bankruptcy

Where the Cases Are Now

The federal cases are consolidated in MDL 2738 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, before Judge Michael A. Shipp. It is the largest active multidistrict litigation in the country. As of June 2026, roughly 68,029 cases were pending, up from about 37,500 in March 2023.9TorHoerman Law. Johnson and Johnson Talcum Powder Lawsuit10ConsumerNotice.org. Talcum Powder Settlements

In August 2025, Judge Shipp established a formal framework for settlement negotiations, appointing a Plaintiffs’ Negotiation Committee and lead negotiation counsel, and ordered both sides into formal mediation beginning in September 2025 with participants required to have full settlement authority.11Darrow.ai. Johnson and Johnson Talc Lawsuit As of mid-2026, the mediation has not produced a global resolution.9TorHoerman Law. Johnson and Johnson Talcum Powder Lawsuit

The court selected Judkins v. Johnson & Johnson as the first federal bellwether trial in July 2025. In January 2026, Special Master Freda Wolfson issued a 658-page report recommending that plaintiffs’ experts be allowed to testify about the connection between genital talc use and ovarian cancer, a critical evidentiary ruling for ovarian cancer claims going forward.12Migliore Law. Talcum Powder Lawsuits and Ovarian Cancer

State courts run their own dockets. California’s coordinated proceedings have already produced trial verdicts. The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas established a mass tort program for ovarian cancer claims in May 2025 under Judge Joshua Roberts, with Emerson v. Johnson & Johnson and Moore v. Johnson & Johnson selected as the first trial cases.13Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. In Re J&J Talcum Powder Ovarian Cancer Litigation

What Juries Have Awarded

Trial results have been mixed. Some juries have returned large plaintiffs’ verdicts, others have sided with J&J. Notable outcomes include:

The Product Withdrawal and the Kenvue Spinoff

J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the United States and Canada in 2020, citing falling demand and what it called “misinformation” about safety. In August 2022 it announced it would discontinue talc-based powder globally by 2023, replacing it with a cornstarch formula, and called the change a “commercial decision” rather than a safety concession.18CNBC. J&J To Stop Selling Talc-Based Baby Powder Globally19Johnson & Johnson. Johnson and Johnson Consumer Health To Transition Global Baby Powder Portfolio to Cornstarch

In 2023, J&J spun off its consumer health division as Kenvue Inc. Under the separation agreement, J&J kept all talc-related liabilities arising in the United States and Canada and indemnified Kenvue for those North American claims. Kenvue is responsible for talc claims outside North America.20Insurance Journal. Kenvue and Johnson and Johnson Talc Liability Allocation21U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Separation Agreement Between Johnson and Johnson and Kenvue Inc. For a U.S. user with a claim, that means the defendant is Johnson & Johnson.

How a Claim Works Now

There is no universal claims process. There is no global settlement fund. Someone who believes talc use caused ovarian cancer or mesothelioma can pursue compensation only by filing an individual lawsuit or joining the federal MDL through private counsel, and each state’s statute of limitations applies.22Drugwatch. Talcum Powder Settlements The window to file is not open forever, and it starts running under state-specific rules that generally tie to when the injury was discovered or should have been discovered.

The federal MDL covers ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. Claims involving other gynecologic cancers have been dismissed from the MDL, so those cases face a much harder path.1Sokolove Law. Talcum Powder Lawsuit Updates Whether a mediation-driven global settlement eventually emerges from the MDL will shape what individual cases are worth, but as of mid-2026 nothing of that kind has been announced, and cases continue to be tried one by one with results that swing in both directions.