J&J de­fends talc bank­rupt­cy gam­bit as plain­tiffs mass in le­gal show­down

Un­der a moun­tain of law­suits al­leg­ing its talc-based prod­ucts caused can­cer, J&J at­tempt­ed to dig it­self out by spin­ning the li­a­bil­i­ties in­to a sep­a­rate com­pa­ny and fil­ing for bank­rupt­cy back in Oc­to­ber. But on Mon­day, plain­tiffs kicked off a five-day tri­al seek­ing to dis­miss the com­pa­ny’s bank­rupt­cy case al­to­geth­er.

While J&J as­serts that its talc prod­ucts are safe, 38,000 law­suits have been filed claim­ing that the wide­ly used ba­by pow­der and oth­er com­mer­cial talc prod­ucts con­tained as­bestos and caused mesothe­lioma and ovar­i­an can­cer.

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