Johnson & Johnson has proposed a $5.5 billion settlement to resolve thousands of US lawsuits alleging that its talc powder caused ovarian cancer. The pharmaceutical company made the formal announcement on Monday, according to a report published July 28. If implemented, the agreement would resolve about 69,000 pending cases in US federal and state courts.

The company said those cases represent roughly 99.75 percent of outstanding talc-related litigation in the United States. The settlement must receive approval from at least 95 percent of plaintiffs who filed cases in state or federal courts before it can be finalized. In 2024, the World Health Organization added talc to its list of substances that may cause cancer in humans.

Johnson & Johnson has maintained that there is no scientific evidence that talc causes cancer. It nevertheless stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the United States in 2020 and globally in 2023. Lawyers representing plaintiffs welcomed the proposed deal after a decade of legal battles. The agreement does not apply to UK claims, where more than 7,000 potential plaintiffs are awaiting proceedings in a High Court case filed in October 2025.