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Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $8.9 billion to settle the tens of thousands of lawsuits that allege that the talc in its iconic Baby Powder and other products caused cancer.
近日，强生公司已经同意支付89亿美元来解决数万起诉讼，这些诉讼指控其标志性产品婴儿爽身粉和其他产品中的滑石粉会导致癌症。
The company said in a statement that about 60,000 talc claimants had agreed to the proposal.
该公司在一份声明中表示，约有6万名滑石粉索赔者同意了这一提议。
A Reuters investigation in 2018 revealed J&J knew for decades about tests showing its talc sometimes contained carcinogenic asbestos.
路透社2018年的一项调查显示，强生几十年来就知晓，在测试过程中，其滑石粉有时含有致癌物质石棉。
But the pharma giant kept that information from regulators and the public.
但这家制药巨头对监管机构和公众隐瞒了这一信息。
J&J has argued its Baby Powder and other talc products are safe, do not cause cancer and do not contain asbestos.
强生一直辩称，其婴儿爽身粉产品和其他含滑石粉产品是安全的，不会致癌，也不含石棉。
The firm announced three years ago that it would stop selling its talc Baby powder in the U.S. and Canada due to what it called "misinformation" about the product.
三年前，强生宣布将停止在美国和加拿大销售含滑石粉的婴儿爽身粉，原因是有关该产品的“错误信息”。
It later announced its aim to discontinue sales worldwide this year.
该公司随后宣布，计划今年在全球范围内停止销售这些产品。
Tuesday's agreement follows a January appeals court ruling which invalidated a controversial bankruptcy move.
周二的这一协议，是在1月份法院裁定其一起有争议的破产诉讼无效之后达成的。
J&J sought to offload the talc liability onto a subsidiary that immediately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
强生试图将滑石粉的责任转移给一家子公司，该子公司立即申请了第11章破产保护。
J&J and its subsidiary have argued the bankruptcy served a greater good for all parties.
强生及其子公司辩称，破产对各方都有更大的好处。
It said restructuring could deliver settlement payouts more fairly than what it called a "lottery" offered by trial courts, where some litigants get large awards and others get nothing.
该公司表示，重组可以比初审法院提供的“抽签”更公平地支付和解金，按照初审法院的方案，一些诉讼当事人可以得到大笔的赔偿，而另一些则什么都得不到。
But some plaintiff lawyers argued J&J's move was an abuse of the bankruptcy system.
但一些原告律师认为，强生此举是对破产制度的滥用。
