More than 50 top mass tort law firms say Johnson & Johnson’s bankruptcy settlement plan is a bad idea.

Johnson & Johnson is telling thousands of ovarian cancer victims they could get quick and significant compensation from a proposed $6.5 billion bankruptcy settlement. The settlement would be compensation for more than 50,000 women who suffered from ovarian cancer from using the company’s long trusted, talc-based products.

But J&J’s message is misleading, according to top mass tort law firms. And plaintiffs have very little time to decipher the truth.

The deadline to vote on whether to accept or reject J&J’s proposed plan is this Friday, July 26, 2024, at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

For this reason, a coalition of plaintiffs’ law firms that firmly oppose the bankruptcy plan issued a press release yesterday. The attorneys want women and families who have suffered from ovarian cancer from using J&J’s talc products to understand the plan, J&J’s motives for proposing it, and how it could affect plaintiffs in the talc cancer lawsuits.

6 Things Talc Ovarian Cancer Plaintiffs Should Know About J&J’s Proposed Bankruptcy Settlement Plan

Here are six things plaintiffs’ attorneys say all talc cancer plaintiffs should know about the proposed bankruptcy plan.

1. J&J Is Stuffing the Ballot Box With Worthless Claims.

In a pre-packaged bankruptcy like this one, 75% of the plaintiffs must approve the plan before it can be filed. Attorneys who represent plaintiffs in the talc ovarian cancer lawsuits say J&J is trying to get these votes from people who don’t have strong cases—people with no documented claim of ovarian cancer who have nothing to lose and everything to gain by voting “yes” to the company’s proposed bankruptcy plan.

“While individuals may have a gynecological illness or other medical condition, we don’t believe those votes should be used as part of a bankruptcy effort to coercively resolve ovarian cancer claims linked to Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder,” Beasley Allen Law Firm Attorney Andy Birchfield stated in Monday’s press release.

“Other claims may involve a serious condition, but we fear they are only being used to stuff the ballot box.”

2. “Yes” Votes Translate to Less Compensation for Ovarian Cancer Victims.

Lawyers from over 50 law firms opposing J&J’s plan think that J&J’s strategy to get “yes” votes is meant to create a false basis for bankruptcy. This could lower the payments to clients with real cases of ovarian cancer, who have had losses and expenses of $500,000 or more while fighting the disease.

“J&J knows that the many fake cases they are submitting make it almost impossible for real injured clients to recover,” said Attorney Mike Papantonio of Levin Papantonio law firm.

Attorney Richard Golomb of Golomb Legal underscored this point in Monday’s press release. “Under J&J’s plan, there is no basis to know how much a client would be paid or when, but it’s logical that accepting an extraordinarily large number of claims would reduce the benefit available to all.

“A few thousand dollars is not justifiable for an individual with a legitimate and longstanding medical diagnosis of ovarian cancer, but that’s what the math of this proposal demonstrates,” Golomb added.

3. J&J Adds Insult to Injury Calling Loyal Customers “Nameless” & “Faceless.”

Two previous plans by J&J were denied by the courts because they were filed in bad faith. This is why, out of sheer desperation, J&J sank so low as to called its former customers who have filed lawsuits “nameless” and “faceless.”

“This is a profoundly insulting statement to make about the very customers who trusted the company,” Birchfield said. “Thousands of women—mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts & cousins whose lives have been upended by ovarian cancer linked to J&J’s talc products.”

If J&J needs to see the faces of their customers who used the company’s talc products and suffered devastating consequences, corporate executives need only visit “Truth About Talc.”

Here they will see scores of videos from women sharing their battles with ovarian cancer. Maybe then J&J will understand why so many plaintiffs who understand this bankruptcy plan so fiercely oppose it.

4. Jury Trials Have Yielded $5.4 Billion to Ovarian Cancer Claimants.

Lawyers opposing the J&J plan also point out that approval would take away all rights to a jury trial for current and future ovarian cancer victims. Since 2016, juries have awarded more than $5.4 billion in damages to ovarian cancer claimants. Though courts have reduced that amount, the reductions were not based on the merits of the cases.

If J&J’s bankruptcy settlement plan moves forward, plaintiffs lose their rights to a jury trial.

5. Civil Courts Are the Fair and Efficient Route to Resolution.

Attorney Michelle Parfitt, with Ashcraft & Gerel, is co-lead counsel of the plaintiffs’ committee in the ongoing multidistrict litigation for ovarian cancer cases. She says the MDL and civil courts still provide the fairest and most efficient way to resolve these cases. The first bellwether trial in the MDL is scheduled for December 2024.

Parfitt encourages individuals and their attorneys to file claims with the required medical records and pathology reports in the MDL for talc cancer cases.

6. J&J’s Games Have Delayed Justice for Talc Cancer Victims.

According to Beasley Allen Attorney Leigh O’Dell, co-lead counsel of the plaintiffs’ committee in the MDL litigation, the prolonged delay of cancer victims’ trials is attributed to solely three things:

1. J&J’s gamesmanship
2. J&J’s desire to avoid trials
3. J&J’s repeated and unsuccessful attempts to claim bankruptcy for a company valued at nearly $400 billion

O’Dell compared J&J’s tactics to Purdue Pharmaceuticals attempted scheme, which the U.S. Supreme Court recently overturned.