Johnson and Johnson reaches deal for $8.9B talc settlement

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.ph&#x2F;MLG64" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.ph&#x2F;MLG64</a>

&gt; Johnson &amp; Johnson created LTL in 2021 in a maneuver to shield itself from the talc litigation, but an earlier bankruptcy filing by the unit was challenged by the plaintiffs and dismissed this year by a U.S. appeals court, which ruled that a bankruptcy wasn’t the right way to resolve the matter.<p>I&#x27;m extremely glad this tactic failed.

Lots of people here are focusing on the size of the deal, which is admittedly large. However, the <i>terms</i> are just as important....<p>FTA - &quot;<i>The proposed settlement would be paid out over 25 years</i>&quot;<p>Inflation alone will wipe a big chunk of that value. Evan at 3% inflation, they will save over 2.5 billion in real dollar terms.

This case has been interesting from the start, given how weak the scientific evidence was. Has anyone improved on that, proving a causal link? This settlement sounds like J&amp;J just trying to get the witch hunt to quit bleeding them. Which I suppose describes most corporate settlements, but still.

We see repeatedly in such cases that employees, especially so executives, have known about the dangers of a product often for years and rather than take action to withdraw it they cover over and hide the facts—witness the tobacco industry.<p>This problem could almost certainly be put to rest if not only the companies were held responsible but equally so their employees. If employees knew life imprisonment was a likely outcome for their &#x27;silence&#x27; things would almost certainly change.<p>This is obvious, what is not is why governments repeatedly fail to implement such legislation. That is, why is commerce so effective at being able to block governments from legislating thus?

For context Johnson and Johnson&#x27;s total revenue for 2022 was $94.94 billion [1], and this settlement is to be paid out over 25 years. So the total cost to them is about 1.3 days of revenue per year at their current revenue levels. Factor in inflation and growth, and it&#x27;ll end up being a few hours of revenue per year.<p>More hard hitting justice for corporate malfeasance.<p>[1] - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Johnson_&amp;_Johnson" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Johnson_&amp;_Johnson</a>

Years ago I worked for a company that made a propaganda site for J&amp;J about their Talc lawsuits<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.factsabouttalc.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.factsabouttalc.com&#x2F;</a><p>The company liked to do a lot of performative charity events to convince ourselves that we weren&#x27;t having a net negative impact on the world catering to some of the most vile corporate clients on the planet

When can we get real talc powder again? Corn starch really doesn&#x27;t work. It&#x27;s like modern Saran wrap, not anywhere as good as the original.

If I might have played with baby powder when I was a kid around 1996-1997, and I might even inhaled or huffed it (no way to remember now, I was 6 years old), how concern should I be?

What percentage of the top of the J&amp;J org chart is spending the rest of their lives in prison, for putting asbestos into the air of baby nurseries in the 21st century?

When did HackerNews get so hysterical. The evidence for talc causing ovarian cancer is extremely weak, maybe 5 additional cases per 100,000 women at worst. It makes no damn sense as a cervix only allows anything to head inside about 1 day per month. Are dudes getting testicular cancer from talc powder traveling up their pee hole? Gametes are like stem cells and prone to cancer forming mutations. It seems like all the undersexed white knights are ruling the attitudes of the day.

I&#x27;m glad I&#x27;ve only seen this product in media, seems to not be a thing here in Sweden.<p>I feel sorry for the people who have been hurt, of course. What crap.

&gt; <i>If a bankruptcy court approves it, the agreement will resolve all current and future claims involving Johnson &amp; Johnson products that contain talc, such as baby powder, the company said.</i><p>When people later (inevitably) discover they got lung cancer, and it&#x27;s traced to Johnsons &amp; Johnsons Baby Asbestos, can they still sue J&amp;J?

Did they change the ingredients for the Talc? Because it is still on sale. From other brands as well.

Remember this one <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;2008_Chinese_milk_scandal" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;2008_Chinese_milk_scandal</a>

What about all of the people internationally who were impacted by this? If American companies are distributing dangerous products overseas they should be held to full account for that as well.

Do we know if this settlement is actually significant in incentivizing J&amp;J to never pull this shit again?

The courts aren’t there to punish giant multinational corporations, they’re there to protect their interests. Google “chevron donziger” if you have any doubt about that.<p>In most cases the corporations or their lobby groups are writing the laws that regulate them. They literally write the bills and hand them to congress to pass.

This does nothing to punish the corporate malfeasance of acting as an expert for the government, knowing better, and then lying by recommending less effective testing to preserve and maximize your own profits over the safety of every citizen using your products for decades.

I have a feeling talc probably wasn&#x27;t actually bad for you.

Is there a criminal case in addition to the civil one? With the C-suites being prosecuted in person for hiding the truth they new and leading to the death of people, or is that wishful thinking?

It&#x27;s good that all the bad people at J&amp;J were working in the talc division, while the selfless honest people who never cheat or lie worked on the COVID vaccine.

This settlement is a joke, clearly Big Pharma owns America.