Austin News

Yaël Ossowski, the deputy director for the Consumer Choice Center (CCC), said despite a recent vote among Johnson & Johnson (J&J) litigation plaintiffs showing a large majority wanting to agree to the proposed settlement, some litigation lawyers are still pushing for a longer trial to increase their total payouts. 

"In mid-August, a vote was held in another of the major baby powder cases where 83 percent of plaintiffs voiced their support for a whopping $6.5 billion settlement to be paid out over 25 years by LTL Management, J&J’s Texas-based subsidiary," Ossowski wrote in a recent DC Journal op-ed. "Considering the tens of thousands of Americans involved in this case who claim injuries and cancer diagnoses, including many who’ve battled in the courts for years, the prospect of a resolution should bring relief and comfort. However, it is unclear whether that message will be pressed in court."

"Though attorneys representing some of the victims in the case have supported the plan, others have decided to stick out the trial in the hopes of extracting a larger settlement," said Ossowski. "No surprise. It’s estimated that attorneys in this case could receive up to a third of the final settlement."

Ossowski wrote in light of developments in the ongoing litigation case against J&J, with recent developments including the company's Red River Talc subsidiary in Texas filing a third bankruptcy claim in the Southern District of Texas.

The lawsuit against J&J over claims that trace amounts of asbestos in their baby powder products caused harm to consumers. J&J’s Texas-based subsidiary, LTL Management, is currently facing more than 61,000 lawsuits from consumers alleging health risks associated with the products.

These cases have been some of the largest and most expensive of their kind, and attorney fees for these cases can be as high as a third of the final payout.

J&J also recently committed to having the final settlement total up to $9 billion. The company would be required to make four settlement payments to 42 states and Washington, D.C., totalling $700 million nationwide. The company will also permanently halt any manufacturing, promotion, and selling of any products containing talcum powder, including Johnson's Baby Powder.

Ossowski is the deputy director of the Consumer Choice Center, an advocacy org focused on improving consumer experiences across multiple Industries. He is also a visiting fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute. He studied at both Concordia University in Montréal and the University of Vienna, and received a Master's degree at the CEVRO Institute in Prague. Ossowski was born in Québec and grew up in North Carolina.