Johnson & Johnson have agreed—in the middle of a trial—to pay more than $2 million to resolve a woman’s claims that asbestos-laced baby powder caused her cancer. The settlement occurs while the drugmaker is fighting almost 17,000 similar claims.
The case in Oakland, California had been going on for more than two weeks before Monday's settlement. According to Bloomberg, while the terms are still not public, O’Hagan and her family agreed to J&J’s offer.
J&J spokespeople said that there are one-off situations where settlement is a reasonable alternative, but it does not changes its overall position that talc is safe and asbestos free.
O’Hagan was diagnosed with mesothelioma in August 2018 and underwent treatment for the disease, but probably had less than two years to live according to her lawyers
Read the Bloomberg report