Johnson & Johnson wrapped up a trial today to determine if the health care giant is misusing the bankruptcy system for the second time in less than two years in a bid to force an end to about 40,000 cancer lawsuits, Bloomberg News reported. A bankrupt unit of J&J has been in federal court this week fighting a group of cancer victims who want juries around the country to decide whether their diseases were caused by tainted talc in baby powder the company sold for years. J&J is using the unit’s chapter 11 case to try to force holdouts to accept an $8.9 billion settlement offer. In the coming weeks, Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan, who is based about 25 miles from J&J’s headquarters, must decide whether to throw out the bankruptcy of LTL Management, a unit created to try to end all current and future health claims related to the talc. Earlier this year, a federal appeals court ordered Kaplan to dismiss the first LTL bankruptcy. Judge Kaplan did not say when he would rule on the new bankruptcy case, but told lawyers they can submit a final round of written arguments in July. Since J&J first put LTL into bankruptcy in 2021, victims have been blocked from taking their cancer claims to trial. The bankruptcy strategy was developed after J&J lost some big trials, including one verdict in which the company was forced to pay out $2.5 billion to about 20 women.
