The Johnson & Johnson emblem seems above a buying and selling submit on the ground of the New York Stock Exchange on July 12, 2021.

Richard Drew/AP

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Richard Drew/AP

The Johnson & Johnson emblem seems above a buying and selling submit on the ground of the New York Stock Exchange on July 12, 2021.

Richard Drew/AP

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson is earmarking practically $9 billion to cowl allegations that its child energy containing talc brought about most cancers, greater than quadrupling the quantity that the corporate had beforehand put aside to pay for its potential legal responsibility.

Under a proposal introduced Tuesday, a J&J subsidiary will re-file for Chapter 11 chapter safety and search court docket approval for a plan that will lead to one of many largest product-liability settlements in U.S. historical past.

The $8.9 billion that J&J would switch to the subsidiary, LTL Management, can be payable over the following 25 years. The quantity is up from the $2 billion that the New Brunswick, New Jersey, firm put aside in October 2021.

The revised quantity is being backed by greater than 60,000 events which have filed lawsuits alleging hurt from J&J talcum powder, in keeping with the corporate.

J&J is not admitting any wrongdoing as a part of the proposed settlement, some extent that firm government emphasised in a Tuesday assertion that maintained the claims “are specious and lack scientific merit.”

But combating the lawsuits in court docket would take a long time and be costly, mentioned Erik Haas, J&J’s worldwide vice chairman of litigation.

The lawsuits filed in opposition to J&J had alleged its talcum powder brought about customers to develop ovarian most cancers, by use for female hygiene, or mesothelioma, a most cancers that strikes the lungs and different organs.

The claims contributed to drop in J&J’s gross sales of child powder, prompting the corporate to cease promoting its talc-based merchandise in 2020. Last year, J&J introduced plans to stop gross sales of the product worldwide.

J&J’s inventory rose 3% in after-hours buying and selling Tuesday after the corporate’s announcement.