US bankruptcy judge rejects Johnson & Johnson's $10bn settlement

(Sharecast News) - A bankruptcy judge in the US has rejected Johnson & Johnson's $10.0bn proposal to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging that its baby powder and other talc products cause ovarian cancer.

Johnson & Johnson, which has been trying to resolve the lawsuits via a subsidiary's bankruptcy, has already failed to settle the matter in court twice.

"While the court's decision is not an easy one, it is the right one," said Judge Christopher Lopez, who stated the settlement failed to have sufficient support from women who claimed J&J products caused their cancer. J&J claims to have collected 90,000 votes, equating to roughly 83% of plaintiffs, but Lopez believes that "at least half should not be counted", with some lawyers voting on their client's behalf without having clear authority to do so.

Johnson & Johnson has already said it will not appeal the ruling but also stated that it no longer intended to settle the claims and would return to "the tort system to litigate and defeat these meritless talc claims".

Andy Birchfield, who represents the plaintiffs opposed to the settlement, said J&J's bankruptcy strategy was "nothing more than a bad-faith manoeuvre to avoid full accountability."

"With this ruling, we are now moving forward without delay to trial, where our clients will finally have the chance to present their cases before a jury and obtain the justice they deserve," said Birchfield.

As of 1130 BST, Johnson & Johnson shares were down 3.03% in pre-market trading at $160.81 each.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com