Johnson & Johnson has set aside near $4 billion to cover litigation expenses related to lawsuits accusing the company of selling talc-based products while knowing they may cause harm.
The company is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court in a bid to overturn to a $2.1 billion verdict and award in Missouri.
But the New Jersey-headquartered company revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that it has set aside $3.9 billion as a “litigation expense" related to "primarily talc-related reserves and certain settlements.”
The filing also revealed that the company faces 25,000 lawsuits by former users Baby Powder and Shower to Shower products claiming they are connected to people suffring from ovarian cancer. The number represents a 39 percent increase from last year.
J&J said it has filed a petition to the Supreme Court asking for a review of the verdict delivered in a St. Louis Circuit Court.
That decision was upheld by a Missouri appeals court last June, while the state Supreme Court refused to hear arguments that the verdict was flawed and award excessive. The initial $4.7 billion award was cut to $2.1 billion.
"This was a fundamentally flawed trial in which numerous legal errors allowed a faulty presentation of the facts, resulting in an incorrect verdict and arbitrary and disproportionate damages," a J&J spokesperson told the St. Louis Record.
"The Ingham (St. Louis) verdict is also at odds with decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, is not contaminated by asbestos and does not cause cancer.
"The company hopes the United States Supreme Court will consider the case and ensure that due process rights and access to a fair trial are protected at every level of the legal system.”
Mark Lanier, lead lawyer for the talc users in the St. Louis case, told Bloomberg News: "Missouri, one of the most conservative courts in the nation, upheld a verdict because J&J killed countless women by maliciously hiding the asbestos in their baby powder. Now J&J wants a get out of jail free card. A responsible company would pay their debts.”