US giant Johnson & Johnson has announced that it has reached a $5½ billion agreement for a comprehensive resolution of the remaining talc litigation with the plaintiff firms, in a move it hopes will end years of litigation.

The company said the agreement around federal Multi-District Litigation (MDL) and related state court proceedings, was conditional on, among other things, the express participation of at least 95% of the remaining claims.

The proposed resolution follows what J&J described as a favourable ruling by the MDL court, and acknowledgment by plaintiffs’ counsel, regarding plaintiffs’ inability to prove that the Company’s talc products caused any particular claimant’s ovarian cancer (specific causation).

“After decades of litigation and full vetting of the science in an extensive hearing, plaintiffs effectively conceded their inability to prove specific causation by withdrawing their experts on the topic in two bellwether cases. In a watershed moment, the Court thereafter ordered plaintiffs to show why the remaining claims should not be dismissed, confirming what we have maintained for years: that these claims lack scientific merit and were sustained only by unreliable expert opinions that could not survive rigorous judicial review,” said Erik Haas, Worldwide Vice President of Litigation, Johnson & Johnson. “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. While we are confident the Company would have ultimately prevailed with further litigation, as it has in the vast majority of cases tried to date, this resolution allows the Company to put this matter behind it and remain focused on its mission to develop medicines and devices that save lives.”

J&J said the MDL Court’s recent specific causation ruling confirmed the company’s longstanding position that these claims lack scientific merit.

It added the company has prevailed in the overwhelming majority of ovarian cases tried to date.

On July 22, the MDL court ordered plaintiffs to show why the remaining pending talc claims should not be dismissed for inability to prove specific causation. The order followed plaintiffs’ withdrawal of their specific causation experts in two bellwether cases, after a hearing that demonstrated their opinions were not based upon reliable scientific methodologies.

“The developments affirmed the company’s longstanding position that the talc claims are premised on junk science that has been rejected for decades by United States scientific organisations and regulatory agencies, as well as independent experts,” said J&J in the statement announcing the deal.

The company said the proposed resolution “constitutes an efficient conclusion to the talc litigation”.

The agreement requires and is conditioned on – among other criteria – the participation of lead plaintiff firms in all ovarian talc litigation pending in state and federal court, representing at least 95% of the remaining claims.

It also calls for per claim payments, with a $5.5 billion commitment by the company and the first payment of no more than $3 billion to be made in 2027 and no additional payments due before 2028.

However, the agreement is limited to current claims and does not cover any future claims.