07:39 AM EDT, 09/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) said Wednesday it reached an agreement with a plaintiffs' lawyer representing 12,000 claimants to endorse the approval of its updated settlement plan that now includes additional monetary and non-monetary benefits.

The healthcare giant has been facing claims that its talc products, including baby powder, can cause cancer and is preparing a settlement in form of a subsidiary declaring bankruptcy. It has asserted its talc products are safe.

Allen Smith of The Smith Law Firm, which represents the talc claimants, said he would recommend the settlement plan to his clients after the company agreed to include additional monetary and non-monetary benefits for all talc claimants in the settlement plan.

Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) said it was "confident" that its new plan would persuade claimants, who were apposed to the initial plan, to vote in favor of the plan, pushing support well above the 75% threshold needed to proceed with the plan.

The new terms benefit all talc claimants and would be made public when the vote is certified, the company said, expecting the final count and certification of the plan to be completed later this month.

The new terms could include an additional payment $1.1 billion for the resolution, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. That would bring the entire settlement to more than $9 billion paid over 25 years.

J&J declined MT Newswires' request for comment regarding the reported additional payment.

The current settlement plan is "the best and most realistic option available for claimants to recover for their claims in a timely manner," the plaintiffs' lawyer Allen Smith said in a statement released by J&J.

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