A Reuters news report has generated shock waves in the pharmaceutical industry. It says that Johnson & Johnson has known since the 1970s that its popular talcum baby powder products contain asbestos. The report reveals that the company did not openly communicate the results and, sometimes, deliberately concealed this information from consumers and the Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency regulating these products.
Shocking Report
The information Reuters examined came to light this past summer during a lawsuit when 22 women claimed the company’s Baby Powder caused their ovarian cancer. This resulted in a $4.7 billion verdict against the company. Because of this lawsuit, company memos and documents revealing this deception were made public. The Reuters report tanked the company’s stock, which dropped 11 percent.
The Reuters article by Lisa Girion zeroes in on reports and testing J&J did in the 1970s on its baby powder and Shower to Shower product, which was marketed to adults, particularly women, for genital application. The article discusses how Johnson & Johnson misled consumers and the FDA even after scientists learned that asbestos is a carcinogen and traces of the substance showed up in their talc samples.
J&J did not tell the FDA about a 1974 test by a professor at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire that turned up asbestos in talc from J&J. The company also failed to say to the FDA about a 1975 report from its lab that found asbestos fibers in five out of 17 samples. The private lab wrote in its cover letter that some samples’ asbestos content was “rather high.” J&J continued to insist that its products were safe, despite trace amounts of asbestos. J&J’s representatives continued to defend their products in lawsuit after lawsuit as terminally ill women testified that decades of talc use was the root cause of their cancer.
The Need for Accountability
It is appalling that J&J continues to defend its products, even posting a lengthy rebuttal on its website to the Reuters article calling it a “conspiracy theory.” The company still maintains that its baby powder is safe and asbestos-free. As product defect lawyers representing victims of these dangerous talc products, we hope J&J is held accountable for its unethical business practices and for misleading federal regulators and consumers into believing its talc products are safe. We will continue to fight for the rights of these affected individuals and families.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/johnsonandjohnson-cancer/
