Johnson & Johnson has offered to pay $5.5 billion to settle the baby powder lawsuits.

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has offered to pay up to $5.5bn (£4.14bn) to settle tens of thousands of claims that its baby powder and other talcum-containing products cause ovarian cancer.

The proposed landmark settlement aims to: a A long legal battle He has been weighing in on the US healthcare giant for years.

J&J has denied that its talc-based products caused cancer and that it changed the formula of a widely used baby powder.

Eric Haas, the firm’s vice president of litigation He said on Monday, External The lawsuit was “unprofitable” and J&J was willing to settle the matter at last.

J&J said the settlement covers about 69,000 cases, which is the total number of remaining tech-related claims. The company will provide up to $3 billion next year, with no additional payments before 2028, he said.

Legal firms representing 95% of ovarian cancer claims filed in state and federal courts must be accepted before the proposal is finalized, J&J said.

Haas said in a statement that the company is confident it will “ultimately prevail in further litigation,” as it has done in most of the cases before the courts to date.

He added that the proposed resolution would “allow the company to put this matter behind it” and allow J&J to “focus on its mission of developing life-saving drugs and devices.”

The talc-based baby powder lawsuit against J&J began in 2011. It was in 2009.

In early July, a federal court awarded a victory to the company, questioning the individual plaintiffs’ ability to show that talc was the direct cause of the plaintiffs’ ovarian cancer.

Talc is a natural mineral made of magnesium, silicon, oxygen and hydrogen, known for its soapy feel and often used in baby powder.

The company has faced lawsuits from consumers and survivors who claim that J&J talc products were contaminated with asbestos and caused cancer.

Talc is found in minerals from the earth and is found in seams near asbestos, which is known to cause cancer.

J&J has repeatedly denied the allegations and said in a recent statement that “studies show that talc is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer.”

In 2022 J&J says it will stop making and selling tarc-based baby powder. around the world.

The announcement comes more than two years after the product ceased sales in the US.

“As part of our global portfolio review, we have made a business decision to transition to an all-cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio,” J&J said at the time.