Johnson & Johnson is seeking to revive its strategy for resolving tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its baby powder caused ovarian cancer and other health problems in women, Bloomberg News reported. A federal judge opened a two-day trial in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday to decide whether to temporarily halt 38,000 lawsuits aimed at J&J and about 250 retailers and insurance companies. Stopping the suits is a key part of J&J’s strategy to pay at least $2 billion to end all current and future claims related to baby powder and other talc-based products. To do so, J&J executed a legal strategy known as the Texas Two Step, creating a unit in Texas to hold all of the lawsuits, then transferring that unit to North Carolina and placing it in bankruptcy. The move angered lawyers for alleged baby powder victims, who say J&J is trying to block cancer victims from having their day in court. The lawsuits against J&J’s bankrupt unit, LTL Management, have already been halted as part of standard chapter 11 bankruptcy rules. It also caught the attention of Congress. The House Judiciary Committee voted on Wednesday to advance a bill banning the strategy.
