{"text":[[{"start":11.44,"text":"Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson has announced a $5.5bn agreement to end long-running US litigation involving tens of thousands of claims that talcum powder allegedly caused ovarian cancer."}],[{"start":22.7,"text":"New Jersey-based J&J said on Monday it would pay up to $3bn in 2027 and the remainder from 2028 onwards. Separately, several trial lawyers said the compensation would go to about 76,000 people with claims against the company."}],[{"start":38.484,"text":"The resolution marks a win for J&J, which proposed an $8.9bn settlement in 2023. The talc claimants suffered a setback in court this month when a New Jersey judge overseeing the case asked the plaintiffs to show why their cases should continue."}],[{"start":55.12,"text":"“The court’s order placed plaintiffs in an untenable position of having to present specific causation evidence to maintain their claims that does not exist,” said Erik Haas, a vice-president of litigation at J&J. “This resolution allows the company to put this matter behind it.”"}],[{"start":70.16,"text":"The plaintiffs’ law firms said the agreement “represents a fair measure of long-delayed justice for these women and their families”."}],[{"start":80.44,"text":"J&J is battling a similar lawsuit in the UK."}],[{"start":82.32,"text":"Talc litigation has dogged J&J for more than a decade, but investors have shrugged off the potential liabilities. J&J’s shares are up 29 per cent so far this year and trading at all-time highs."}],[{"start":93.84,"text":"The agreement “could fully resolve all outstanding ovarian [cancer] cases and remove any potential overhang from continued litigation, which would both be positive developments for J&J shares”, Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note on Monday."}],[{"start":108.935,"text":"To resolve the litigation, J&J initially attempted a complex bankruptcy scheme called the “Texas-two step” in which the company proposed to split itself into two separate entities to ringfence all legal liabilities into one of them. That effort was ultimately shot down in court."}],[{"start":125.385,"text":"J&J has consistently denied its talc products harmed people. In 2018, a Missouri jury ordered J&J to pay nearly $4.7bn in damages to a group of nearly two dozen women who claimed their ovarian cancer was caused by its talc."}],[{"start":147.6,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1785219973_4723.mp3"}