Johnson & Johnson said it agreed to pay $8.9 billion to resolve all cancer lawsuits tied to its talc-based powders and will make a fresh attempt to contain the liability within a bankruptcy filing by one of its units.
The world’s largest maker of healthcare products hopes to settle complaints from about 60,000 claimants and fund a trust set up in US bankruptcy court in Trenton, New Jersey, to cover future claims, the company said on Tuesday in a securities filing.
J&J has already withdrawn its talc-based baby powder and others, including Shower to Shower, from the market.
J&J’s LTL Management unit filed a new Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to provide a basis for the trust, which outlines terms for settling the decade-long litigation.
An earlier filing, which did not include a settlement, was rejected in January after an appeals court found J&J erred in using bankruptcy to block juries from hearing lawsuits and handing out damage awards.
J&J wants a reorganisation plan for LTL that caps all the talc liability.
“Resolving this matter through the proposed reorganisation plan is both more equitable and more efficient, allows claimants to be compensated in a timely manner,” Erik Haas, J&J’s global head of litigation, said.
The payouts in the settlement will be distributed over 25 years.
Following the announcement, shares of J&J rose as much as 3 per cent in trading after US markets closed on Tuesday.
If enough victims agree to join the accord, J&J will be freed from defending against cancer claims tied to baby powder and other products tainted by asbestos.
Juries ruled against the company in nearly a dozen such suits over the years — including the one challenged in the US Supreme Court — before J&J was forced to pay $2.5 billion to a group of 20 women whose case went to trial in 2018.
Traces of asbestos
Women and men blamed J&J’s baby powder for causing ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer specifically tied to asbestos exposure.
Resolving this matter through the proposed reorganisation plan is both more equitable and more efficient, allows claimants to be compensated in a timely manner
Erik Haas,
global head of litigation, J&J
Victims say internal J&J documents dating to the early 1970s show workers warning managers about traces of asbestos found in talc bottled for baby powder.
The victims contend J&J executives should have warned consumers about the powders’ health risks.
“This is the largest products liability settlement ever realised after a bankruptcy filing,” said Mikal Watts, one of the plaintiff lawyers who negotiated the deal with J&J.
“Our job is to get our clients restitution for their injuries, and this settlement is the culmination of over a decade of fighting for justice.”
J&J says the talc cases pose a financial threat to the company despite its more than $478 billion market capitalisation.
That’s because juries could repeatedly hit J&J with multi-billion verdicts that threaten its financial health, its lawyers contend.
The company, which was founded in 1886, has also suffered reputational harm tied to the talc findings.
J&J has been criticised for using the bankruptcy courts to foster a settlement.
Such filings allow companies to put suits on hold while a judge evaluates their value.
Getting court approval for such trusts requires 75 per cent of victims to vote in favour of having their claims through that process.
Under the terms of the deal, J&J agreed to pay $6.5 billion to resolve current and future ovarian cases, provide $2 billion for current and future mesothelioma cases and hand over $400 million to states who’ve sued J&J for failing to warn consumers about the health risks tied to its talc-based powders or threatened to sue, according to sources.
Opposing deal
J&J negotiated its new deal with lawyers outside the leadership group overseeing talc cases consolidated as a multi-district litigation (MDL) before a federal judge in New Jersey.
Lawyers in the MDL said J&J was not putting up enough money and ridiculed its repeated attempts to use the bankruptcy process to deny victims trials.
“This second bad-faith bankruptcy is an attempt by J&J to bully cancer victims into accepting a low-ball deal that would leave most of them with staggering unpaid medical bills and lost wages,” Jason Itkin, a lawyer for claimants who oppose the deal, said.
“We believe this second bankruptcy will be dismissed just like the first one.”
In its January ruling, the appeals court said J&J wrongly put its newly created unit, LTL Management, under court protection to deal with the talc litigation.
The three-judge panel found since J&J agreed to set up a more than $61 billion backstop plan for its unit, the company wasn’t in “financial distress” and didn’t qualify for protection.
Hours before the new case was filed, an official committee of talc claimants filed court papers claiming that a second Chapter 11 petition would be wrong. The group, which represented cancer victims in the first bankruptcy case, said the company should not be permitted to return to bankruptcy.
The new filing should satisfy demands by the appeals court that rejected the first case, lawyers who crafted both Chapter 11 filings for J&J said in court papers.
In the latest case, the company replaced the backstop agreement with the $8.9 billion settlement, J&J’s lawyers said. The settlement funds will be LTL’s only financial resource, they said.
“I applaud Johnson & Johnson on finding a fair and equitable solution which closes a painful chapter for a lot of American women,” said Mark Lanier, a Texas-based lawyer who won a $4.7 billion verdict against the company in 2018 on behalf of 20 women who blamed their ovarian cancer on baby powder use.
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Sun jukebox
Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)
This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.
Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)
The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)
Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.
Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.
Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)
An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)
Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.
Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 (PA) Group 1 | US$75,000 (Dirt) | 2,200 metres
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas (TB) Listed | $250,000 (D) | 1,600m
7.40pm: Meydan Classic Trial (TB) Conditions | $100,000 (Turf) | 1,400m
8.15pm: Al Shindagha Sprint (TB) Group 3 | $200,000 (D) | 1,200m
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (D) | 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (T) | 2,000m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
if you go
The flights
Flydubai offers three daily direct flights to Sarajevo and, from June, a daily flight from Thessaloniki from Dubai. A return flight costs from Dhs1,905 including taxes.
The trip
The Travel Scientists are the organisers of the Balkan Ride and several other rallies around the world. The 2018 running of this particular adventure will take place from August 3-11, once again starting in Sarajevo and ending a week later in Thessaloniki. If you’re driving your own vehicle, then entry start from €880 (Dhs 3,900) per person including all accommodation along the route. Contact the Travel Scientists if you wish to hire one of their vehicles.
Palestine and Israel - live updates
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDisplay%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.7%E2%80%9D%20LPTO%20Amoled%2C%202412%20x%201080%2C%20394ppi%2C%20HDR10%2B%2C%20Corning%20Gorilla%20Glass%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EProcessor%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Qualcomm%20Snapdragon%208%2B%20Gen%202%2C%20octa-core%3B%20Adreno%20730%20GPU%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMemory%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%2F12GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECapacity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20128%2F256%2F512GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPlatform%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Android%2013%2C%20Nothing%20OS%202%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMain%20camera%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%2050MP%20wide%2C%20f%2F1.9%20%2B%2050MP%20ultrawide%2C%20f%2F2.2%3B%20OIS%2C%20auto-focus%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMain%20camera%20video%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204K%20%40%2030%2F60fps%2C%201080p%20%40%2030%2F60fps%3B%20live%20HDR%2C%20OIS%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFront%20camera%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2032MP%20wide%2C%20f%2F2.5%2C%20HDR%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFront%20camera%20video%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Full-HD%20%40%2030fps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204700mAh%3B%20full%20charge%20in%2055m%20w%2F%2045w%20charger%3B%20Qi%20wireless%2C%20dual%20charging%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EConnectivity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Wi-Fi%2C%20Bluetooth%205.3%2C%20NFC%20(Google%20Pay)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBiometrics%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fingerprint%2C%20face%20unlock%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EI%2FO%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20USB-C%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDurability%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20IP54%2C%20limited%20protection%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECards%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual-nano%20SIM%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EColours%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dark%20grey%2C%20white%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIn%20the%20box%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nothing%20Phone%20(2)%2C%20USB-C-to-USB-C%20cable%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%20(UAE)%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dh2%2C499%20(12GB%2F256GB)%20%2F%20Dh2%2C799%20(12GB%2F512GB)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
