What Another Verdict Against J&J Means for the Talcum Powder Lawsuits
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After a controversial attempt to settle thousands of cases fell through last year, Johnson & Johnson made clear that its new plan was to battle the growing number of talcum powder lawsuits in the courtroom.
In March 2025, the company vowed to “defeat these meritless talc claims.” J&J insisted that the lawsuits, which argue that the company’s talc products cause ovarian cancer, were based on “junk science.”
Almost a year later, J&J is still looking for its first trial win since the settlement failed. A Philadelphia jury last week ordered the company to pay $250,000 to the family of a woman who died from ovarian cancer just months after filing her lawsuit.
The company lost a similar trial in December, when it was found liable for ovarian cancer in two women. The company was ordered to pay out $40 million.
With tens of thousands of lawsuits pending and more trials expected in the coming months, people who have filed lawsuits could be in for a strong 2026.
Talc Lawsuits Enter Key Trial Phase in Wake of Failed Settlement
The talc ovarian cancer litigation is re-entering the trial phase after these cases remained largely in limbo for months as J&J worked to complete a global talc settlement.
In 2024, the company offered a settlement worth more than $10 billion that could have resolved tens of thousands of lawsuits. But the completion of that settlement hinged on a controversial procedure called a Texas Two-Step bankruptcy.
This involved J&J creating a new subsidiary to assume the company’s talc liabilities. That subsidiary would then declare bankruptcy, shielding J&J itself from the litigation.
But that settlement attempt was mired in controversy on multiple fronts. In addition to concerns over the Texas Two-Step maneuver, opponents of the settlement also accused J&J of misrepresenting how many people who had filed lawsuits supported the plan.
A bankruptcy judge shut down the settlement attempt in March 2025.
After that decision, litigation resumed and plaintiffs have prevailed in the first two trials. If J&J continues to lose more trials through 2026, pressure could mount on the company to return to the table on settlement negotiations.
“Although many recent verdicts involved mesothelioma diagnoses, juries have now spoken in two ovarian cancer trials and found J&J responsible,” Drugwatch attorney and consumer safety advocate Whitney Ray Di Bona told Consumer Notice. “Continued losses at trial could change the company’s stance and encourage settlement negotiations for the thousands of women with pending ovarian cancer cases.”
Johnson & Johnson Facing Tens of Thousands of Talc Lawsuits
The stakes for the ovarian cancer trials are high, given the sheer number of lawsuits that could be impacted.
As of February 2026, more than 67,000 active ovarian cancer cases were pending in federal court. Other cases were active in state court as well.
In addition to ovarian cancer claims, J&J is also facing lawsuits over claims that its talc is tied to the development of mesothelioma, a rare and serious cancer that forms in the lining of the lungs.
In December 2025, the company was ordered to pay a staggering verdict of more than $1.5 billion at the conclusion of a mesothelioma trial.
More ovarian cancer trials are expected to get underway in the coming months.
