That did not take long.
Less than 48 hours after lawyers representing some of the thousands of women claiming that Johnson & Johnson talc powder caused their ovarian cancer asked a Houston judge for “a do-over” and to reconsider his ruling dismissing their efforts to reach a settlement agreement through the bankruptcy court, the judge issued his answer Thursday.
No can do.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez of the Southern District of Texas wasted very little time and very few words in rejecting the petitions to reopen the dispute to allow the parties a second chance at reaching a global settlement agreement through the bankruptcy process involving J&J subsidiary Red River Talc.
“No party was deprived an opportunity to present evidence or make arguments to the court,” Judge Lopez wrote in a two-page opinion. “There are no errors of law. There is no mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. There is no manifest injustice or extraordinary circumstances warranting reconsideration or relief from the order.”
Three separate parties representing different groups of women filed motions Monday and Tuesday asking Judge Lopez to reverse his March 31 decision to dismiss Red River Talc’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition to allow the parties to either fix the flaws in the previous petition or to send the entire case to mediation.
In a legal process known as the Texas Two-Step, J&J created a Texas-based subsidiary company in 2024 in an effort to transfer all of its legal liabilities caused by lawsuits filed by an estimated 90,000 women — including 465 from Dallas-Fort Worth and a total of 2,558 from Texas — who claim their ovarian cancer was caused by J&J’s talc powder. The company then filed a prepackaged corporate bankruptcy that included a proposed $9 billion to go to the victims and thus resolve J&J of any additional liability.
But after a two-week trial in March, Judge Lopez rejected the bankruptcy proposal, saying it was rushed and had too many flaws in its claims to have the support of 83 percent of the 90,000 women.
The case is In re: Red River Talc, SDTX, No. 24-90505.