Johnson & Johnson Announces Plan by its Subsidiary, LLT Management LLC, to Resolve All Current and Future Ovarian Cancer Talc Claims Through a Consensual “Prepackaged” Reorganization

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (the “Company”) today announced a proposed Plan of Reorganization (the “Plan”) by its subsidiary, LLT Management LLC ("LLT"), for the comprehensive and final resolution of all current and future claims related to ovarian cancer arising from cosmetic talc litigation against it and its affiliates in the United States.

“The Plan is the culmination of our consensual resolution strategy that we announced last October,” said Erik Haas, Worldwide Vice President of Litigation, Johnson & Johnson. “Since then, the Company has worked with counsel representing the overwhelming majority of talc claimants to bring this litigation to a close, which we expect to do through this plan.”

The Plan enables the Company to resolve its talc litigation:

• The ovarian claims to be resolved by the Plan constitute 99.75% of the pending talc lawsuits against the Company and its affiliates in the United States.
• The remaining pending personal injury lawsuits relate to mesothelioma and will be addressed outside of the Plan. The Company already has resolved 95% of mesothelioma lawsuits filed to date.
• The State consumer protection claims will also be addressed outside the Plan; the Company already has agreements in principle to do so.
• Finally, and for completeness, the Company has also reached an agreement in principle to resolve all talc-related claims against it in the bankruptcy cases filed by suppliers of its talc (Imerys Talc America, Inc., Cyprus Mines Corporation, and their related parties).

The Plan differs significantly from the prior reorganizations filed by LLT:

• The Plan provides for a three-month solicitation period during which ovarian claimants are informed of its terms and will have the opportunity to vote for or against the Plan – an opportunity they were denied in prior bankruptcy cases.
• If 75% of claimants vote in favor of the Plan, a Company subsidiary may file a consensual “prepackaged” Chapter 11 bankruptcy to secure its confirmation.

“Unlike the prior cases, it is the vote of the claimants – and not the conflicting financial incentives of the small minority of plaintiff lawyers who stand to receive excessive legal fees outside of a reorganization – that decides whether the Plan may proceed,” continued Mr. Haas.