Johnson & Johnson saw shares fall 5 percent on Monday, thought to be a repercussion of the possible expose of damaging documents during the ongoing court cases regarding its talcum powder products.
The company is currently facing numerous lawsuits regarding the inclusion of asbestos in its talcum powder products being linked to mesothelioma and ovarian cancer, a fact it strenuously denies.
However, despite the fall in shares, Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsen suggested to investors that any concerns regarding the lawsuits are ‘overblown’, according to CNBC. Indeed, should J&J even pay out on all 5,500 at $280,000 per case – the highest amount – it would have sufficient resources to do so given its $18.4 billion of cash and marketable securities at the end of Q4.
Continuing to contest the allegations, a J&J spokesperson said, “We are confident that our talc products are, and always have been, free of asbestos, based on decades of monitoring, testing and regulation dating back to the 1970s. Historical testing of samples by the FDA, numerous independent laboratories, and numerous independent scientists have all confirmed the absence of asbestos in our talc products.”