Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) (J. Scott Applewhite, File/AP Images)

US sen­a­tor blasts J&J's Texas two-step bank­rupt­cy as the phar­ma gi­ant twists in the pub­lic spot­light

J&J has chore­o­graphed a le­gal dance that has tak­en the phar­ma gi­ant straight in­to the wait­ing arms of a US sen­a­tor. And the law­mak­er has got some moves of his own.

Ma­jor­i­ty Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) took to the Sen­ate floor to ex­co­ri­ate J&J’s use of the Texas two-step move to es­cape a moun­tain of lit­i­ga­tion sur­round­ing claims that the phar­ma gi­ant’s talc-based ba­by pow­der was laced with as­bestos, trig­ger­ing ovar­i­an can­cer or mesothe­lioma. It spun out those as­sets in­to a sep­a­rate com­pa­ny last fall, then prompt­ly filed for bank­rupt­cy of the new com­pa­ny, look­ing to shield the gi­ant cor­po­ra­tion from a mob of an­gry lit­i­gants bristling with more than 38,000 law­suits threat­en­ing bil­lions in po­ten­tial judg­ments.

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