Articles by Steven Church, Jonathan Randles, Jef Feeley and Damian Garde

J&J Plunges After Plan to Settle Baby Powder Suits Fails

Johnson & Johnson shares fell the most in five years after the company’s plan to settle thousands of talc-related lawsuits through bankruptcy was shot down in court. The ruling means J&J will have to fight roughly 60,000 claims brought by …

23andMe’s Bankruptcy Puts 15 Million Users’ DNA Info on Auction Block

Millions of Americans who sent their saliva to 23andMe in the hopes of finding lost relatives or identifying health risks buried in their DNA now face seeing their genetic information sold to the highest bidder as part of the company’s …

Prospect Medical Signs Temporary Deal to Avert Hospital Closures

Bankrupt health system Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. won court approval to hand operations of its Pennsylvania hospitals to a state-backed receiver, a last minute deal that averts potential closures of critical health centers. The agreement approved Thursday by Judge Stacey …

J&J Talc Deal Should Be Rejected in Bankruptcy, Holdouts Say

Holdout creditors who claim tainted baby powder gave them ovarian cancer urged a judge to reject Johnson & Johnson’s plan to force an end to all related cancer lawsuits. The proposed settlement — worth more than $8 billion — wrongly …

Snack Maker Hearthside Settles Illinois Child Labor Probe

Private equity-backed snack producer Hearthside Food Solutions has agreed to pay $4.5 million to end an investigation by Illinois authorities into allegations the business used child labor at facilities in the state. Hearthside, which filed for bankruptcy last month, has …

TPG’s Exactech Goes Bankrupt After Lawsuits Over Recalled Implant Devices

Exactech Inc., a maker of joint-replacement implants owned by TPG Capital, has filed bankruptcy after being accused in more than a thousand lawsuits of making defective hip and knee implants that hurt patients. The Florida-based company sought court protection Tuesday …

J&J’s Court-Shopping Win Highlights Irresistible Bankruptcy Tool

Johnson & Johnson’s successful use of a “court-shopping” legal tactic to advance its latest plan for resolving thousands of cancer claims spotlights a controversial bankruptcy maneuver corporations have long employed to avoid unfavorable rulings. A federal bankruptcy judge in Texas …

J&J’s Court-Shopping Strategy Pits New Jersey Home Against Texas

Johnson & Johnson’s bold move to skirt a US court in New Jersey and seek a potentially friendlier venue in Texas to settle claims its baby powder gave women cancer faces a key decision as soon as Thursday. A federal …

Purdue Settlement Talks With Sacklers Extended to November

Purdue Pharma LP said its making progress in settlement talks with members of the Sackler family who own the company and won another extension of a breathing spell that’s shielded the family from civil lawsuits for years. Judge Sean Lane …

J&J Loses Latest Legal Bid to Revive Talc Bankruptcy Strategy

Johnson & Johnson lost its bid in a federal appeals court to revive a plan to settle tens of thousands of talc cancer lawsuits by placing a subsidiary into bankruptcy. The ruling Thursday upheld a bankruptcy judge’s dismissal last year …