on the whole story. i blame johnson & johnson baby powder. we have never confirmed a finding of asbestos in any product that has been sold. do you consider it an abuse of bankruptcy law? i do. what johnson ask johnson did. i definitely do. welcome to the whole story. i m anderson cooper. tonight, cnn chief investigative correspondent pamela brown brings us the story of three women in legal battles with one of the largest health care companies in the world over a commonly used household item they say is responsible for causing their cancers. that product is johnson & johnson talcum baby powder. for more than a century, the name johnson & johnson was synonymous with baby powder. the lawsuit from these women claimed the powder contained asbestos. and these are just three out of tens of thousands of lawsuits johnson & johnson is facing over this product, which was discontinued in the u.s. and canada in 2020. johnson & johnson staunchly denies these claims, and
coming up i was loyal to that product. on the whole story. i blame johnson & johnson baby powder. we have never confirmed a finding of asbestos in any product that has been sold. do you consider it an abuse of bankruptcy law? i do. i definitely do. welcome to the whole story. i m anderson cooper. tonight, cnn chief investigative correspondent pamela brown brings us the story of three women in legal battles with one of the largest health care companies in the world over a commonly used household item they say is responsible for causing their cancers. that product is johnson & johnson talcm baby powder. for more than a century, the name johnson & johnson was sin onmm with baby powder. these are just three of tens of thousands of lawsuits johnson & johnson is facing over this product which was discontinued in the u.s. and canada in 2020. johnson & johnson staunchly denies these claims and you ll hear from them directly in this hour about their methodology and the
johnson & johnson is facing around 40,000 allegations of people saying that its talc based baby powder caused their cancer. this is not even an exhaustive list. this is just an example of one case list. and so what they say is, look, this is a solution. we filed for bankruptcy through this texas two-step maneuver. so in october of 2021, johnson & johnson executes what is known as the texas two-step. johnson & johnson took its consumer products business and merged it with a newly created entity in texas. it then immediately split that entity in two. one of the segments, which is now known as ltl management, llc, was left holding all of the liabilities of the talc lawsuits.
around 40,000 allegations of people saying that its talc-based baby powder caused their cancer. this is not even an exhaustive list. this is just an example of one case list. and so what they say is, look, this is a solution. we filed for bankruptcy through this texas two-step maneuver. so in october of 2021 johnson & johnson executes what is known as the texas two-step. johnson & johnson took its consumer products business and merged it with a newly created entity in texas. it then immediately split that entity in two. one of the segments, which is now known as ltl management llc, was left holding all of the liabilities of the talc lawsuits. ltl immediately filed for bankruptcy in north carolina.
thoughtfully and so thoroughly said, the bankruptcy code is there to protect certain companies but only companies that really need it. if j&j could have gotten away with this, then really any wealthy company could avoid its liabilities by creating a subsidiary, putting that subsidiary in the bankruptcy, and riding off into the sunset with all its assets. the third circuit stopped authority of putting an end to the texas two-step. what do you say to that? well, i m disappointed they didn t go further. i m glad they ruled as they did, because what johnson & johnson was trying to do was unacceptable. but this is a corporate playbook that s going to be used over and over until we stop it. j&j announcing its subsidiary branch, ltl management, is refiling for bankruptcy. j&j says more than 16,000 claimants have committed to support the proposed resolution. the third circuit overturned