Houston Republic

The spokesperson for a national health care reform group said the Trump Administration’s “Make American Health Again” (MAHA) effort should factor in the costs of mass tort litigation on the U.S. health care system.

Her comments come as a Texas court considers a proposed settlement in long-running mass tort litigation against Johnson & Johnson (J&J).

“Although the issue has not received significant attention in the mainstream media, the rise in mass tort litigation over the past few years has become a substantial factor in the health innovation ecosystem,” Kasia Mulligan, national spokeswoman for Patients Come First (PCF), wrote in a Center Square op-ed. “When a company is targeted with a lawsuit, it consumes a significant amount of money, attention, and time, diverting resources away from the core business mission.”

“In the case of biopharmaceutical companies, this means less funding flows into critical research and development efforts, ultimately delaying the development of novel treatments and therapies,” wrote Mulligan. “Delaying innovation is not just an academic matter – it has a host of unwanted real-world consequences. Many diseases and conditions currently have no treatments available, and even among those that do, the options are often inadequate or insufficient to offer patients the relief they deserve.”

A Texas court is currently considering a proposed settlement over long-running litigation against J&J concerning allegations that its talc-based products, such as baby powder, have caused cancer. In September 2024, a J&J subsidiary, Red River Talc LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

This could allow the company to resolve more than 62,000 of these lawsuits. 83% of current claimants have expressed support for this plan, exceeding the 75% approval threshold required by U.S. bankruptcy code.

The head of a southwest U.S. policy group said last month this proposed settlement shows Texas “may have found a better way” to deal with mass tort litigation, reported the Houston Republic.

“A new legal framework currently under consideration in the state could revolutionize how mass tort cases are handled, promising faster resolutions for victims and protecting them from exploitation from outside legal actors while preventing frivolous claims against businesses,” Patrick Brenner, president of the Southwest Public Policy Institute (SPPI), wrote in an OA Online op-ed.  “This approach is being tested in a high-profile case involving talc-based baby powder products and their alleged connection to ovarian cancer – a legal battle that has consumed more than a decade in U.S. courts.”

“The innovative Texas solution combines corporate restructuring under state law with Chapter 11 proceedings in federal bankruptcy court, offering distinct advantages,” wrote Brenner. “The talc case has already produced remarkable results: a proposed settlement worth nearly $10 billion over 25 years, one of the largest in legal history. More importantly, when put to a vote, more than three-quarters of claimants supported the offer, recognizing it as a fair resolution that provides swift compensation while avoiding years of uncertain litigation.”

In her op-ed, Mulligan wrote that the issue of mass tort litigation is not too “abstract” to be relevant for improving the U.S. health care system. 

Patients are at the very end of the complex medical innovation ecosystem,” wrote Mulligan. “Everything from research to testing to securing regulatory approval happens upstream of the patient’s experience.”

“When it comes to improving America’s health, out of sight cannot mean out of mind. If the foundational research that drives innovation slows down or halts altogether, patients will eventually experience delays in accessing new products – if they ever get them at all,” Mulligan wrote. 

PCF is a national advocacy group focused on eliminating barriers to care and improving medical innovation, particularly for individuals with chronic illnesses.