A Johnson & Johnson subsidiary proposed on February 18 that it would submit to an independent examination of the corporate restructuring the healthcare giant undertook in an attempt to settle in U.S. bankruptcy court thousands of lawsuits alleging that J&J baby powder and other talc products cause cancer.
The Sackler family owners of Purdue Pharma LP proposed a new and larger settlement worth up to $6 billion to resolve allegations that the OxyContin maker and the company’s owners contributed to the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic, a mediator’s report showed on February 18.
A federal judge on Feb. 1 extended a legal shield protecting the Sackler family owners of Purdue Pharma from lawsuits to Feb. 17, as they try to reach a deal with several states to settle sprawling litigation stemming from the U.S. opioid crisis.
Although the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the OxyContin maker’s reorganization plan that freed the Sacklers from greater financial accountability and shielded them from additional lawsuits, the Department of Justice moved to block the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy deal.
