Vi-Jon LLC, a St. Louis-based manufacturer of private-label talc products sold at Walmart, Dollar General, Kroger, and Walgreens, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to resolve hundreds of mesothelioma and asbestos injury claims. The company has proposed establishing a $25 million trust, saying that the move is necessary after a 400% surge in talc litigation since 2023 pushed the company’s projected liability from $120 million to more than $700 million.
Mesothelioma Claims Against Store-Brand Talc Manufacturer Explode
Vi-Jon has manufactured talc-related body powder products from 1963 until discontinuing the practie in 2016, and that history is why it has been named as a defendant in mesothelioma and asbestos injury lawsuits. Countless people used the company’s store-brand products during that five-decade period, and court filings show that 367 mesothelioma and lung cancer claims are currently pending against the company. The filing reflects expectations that those claims arising from talc sold through 2016 will continue to be filed well into the middle of the century due to mesothelioma’s 20 to 50-year latency period.
The company’s proposed plan would channel all talc mesothelioma and asbestos injury claims—both current and future—into a Section 524(g) settlement trust funded by $25 million. The funds will be contributed by parent company Emprise Group’s affiliate. Vi-Jon’s net sales were approximately $26 million in 2025 and are projected to fall to $21 million in 2026, reflecting a dramatic decline in body powder sales that began in late 2025 as consumers increasingly connected talc products to cancer risks after years of headline-grabbing Johnson & Johnson litigation.
Talc-related Mesothelioma and Ovarian Cancer Claims Continue to be Filed
Vi-Jon’s bankruptcy is the latest in a series of cosmetic powder company moves following a rapid rise in the number of talc mesothelioma and ovarian cancer lawsuits being filed. Asbestos-contaminated talc is now cited in 4 in 10 mesothelioma lawsuits—up from 1 in 6 in 2021—and store-brand powder manufacturers like Vi-Jon have increasingly become defendants as plaintiffs’ attorneys identify non-J&J products used alongside or instead of Johnson’s Baby Powder. A Minnesota jury previously awarded $10.2 million to a mesothelioma patient who used Vi-Jon store-brand products sold at Target and Walmart. The company’s bankruptcy filing seeks to resolve all current and future mesothelioma claims through the trust while allowing Vi-Jon to continue operating its Epsom salt and other non-talc product lines.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or ovarian cancer and you suspect that asbestos-contaminated talc played a role, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net at 1-800-692-8608 today.
