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Johnson & Johnson knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its Baby Powder

JacksinPA

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https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/johnsonandjohnson-cancer/

Facing thousands of lawsuits alleging that its talc caused cancer, J&J insists on the safety and purity of its iconic product. But internal documents examined by Reuters show that the company's powder was sometimes tainted with carcinogenic asbestos and that J&J kept that information from regulators and the public.

Darlene Coker knew she was dying. She just wanted to know why.

She knew that her cancer, mesothelioma, arose in the delicate membrane surrounding her lungs and other organs. She knew it was as rare as it was deadly, a signature of exposure to asbestos. And she knew it afflicted mostly men who inhaled asbestos dust in mines and industries such as shipbuilding that used the carcinogen before its risks were understood.
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Mined talc has been known to contain asbestos for a long time - years. Most of us here have used J&J Baby Powder - or had it used on us as infants by our mothers. But J&J knew it contained asbestos yet did nothing.

Besides my infant exposure. I have personally used this product in the past 10 years. Never again. I've had a number of chest X-rays & chest CT scans in the past 5 years & my lungs are clear. I'd like it to stay that way.

I'm posting this as BN as a warning to all. The report just broke.
 
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/johnsonandjohnson-cancer/

Facing thousands of lawsuits alleging that its talc caused cancer, J&J insists on the safety and purity of its iconic product. But internal documents examined by Reuters show that the company's powder was sometimes tainted with carcinogenic asbestos and that J&J kept that information from regulators and the public.

Darlene Coker knew she was dying. She just wanted to know why.

She knew that her cancer, mesothelioma, arose in the delicate membrane surrounding her lungs and other organs. She knew it was as rare as it was deadly, a signature of exposure to asbestos. And she knew it afflicted mostly men who inhaled asbestos dust in mines and industries such as shipbuilding that used the carcinogen before its risks were understood.
====================================================
Mined talc has been known to contain asbestos for a long time - years. Most of us here have used J&J Baby Powder - or had it used on us as infants by our mothers. But J&J knew it contained asbestos yet did nothing.

Besides my infant exposure. I have personally used this product in the past 10 years. Never again. I've had a number of chest X-rays & chest CT scans in the past 5 years & my lungs are clear. I'd like it to stay that way.

I'm posting this as BN as a warning to all. The report just broke.

Who needs regulations?
 
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/johnsonandjohnson-cancer/

Facing thousands of lawsuits alleging that its talc caused cancer, J&J insists on the safety and purity of its iconic product. But internal documents examined by Reuters show that the company's powder was sometimes tainted with carcinogenic asbestos and that J&J kept that information from regulators and the public.

Darlene Coker knew she was dying. She just wanted to know why.

She knew that her cancer, mesothelioma, arose in the delicate membrane surrounding her lungs and other organs. She knew it was as rare as it was deadly, a signature of exposure to asbestos. And she knew it afflicted mostly men who inhaled asbestos dust in mines and industries such as shipbuilding that used the carcinogen before its risks were understood.
====================================================
Mined talc has been known to contain asbestos for a long time - years. Most of us here have used J&J Baby Powder - or had it used on us as infants by our mothers. But J&J knew it contained asbestos yet did nothing.

Besides my infant exposure. I have personally used this product in the past 10 years. Never again. I've had a number of chest X-rays & chest CT scans in the past 5 years & my lungs are clear. I'd like it to stay that way.

I'm posting this as BN as a warning to all. The report just broke.

I saw that on the link about the bank notes flying out of the Brinks truck in NJ. Pretty shocking. J&J is going to pay a pretty large price for this, not just monetarily, but its image as well.

I used it on all 3 of my kids.
 
I saw that on the link about the bank notes flying out of the Brinks truck in NJ. Pretty shocking. J&J is going to pay a pretty large price for this, not just monetarily, but its image as well.

I used it on all 3 of my kids.

You should all get chest X-rays as a precaution.
 
It's not just lung cancer. Some of these law suits have been from women with ovarian cancer. I understand that many women use this on their external genitalia & that it apparently can migrate to the ovaries.
 
I've used it as well. In fact, my kids have played with it before, getting it all over the place. And my son is asmatic now.
 
I've used it as well. In fact, my kids have played with it before, getting it all over the place. And my son is asmatic now.

Go talk to one of those asbestos-focused personal injury law firms that advertise on TV all the time. No charge for initial consultation with most lawyers. The asthma & mesothelioma may be related.
 
Their stock is down 10% and I expect it to get worse in the long run. In cases like these there needs to be prison and devastating fines or else it makes it worth it to kill people for profits.
 
I've used it as well. In fact, my kids have played with it before, getting it all over the place. And my son is asmatic now.

I found this via a Google search: asbestos asthma mesothelioma. No lit reference.

However, one study has reported that asbestos exposure could cause asthmatic symptoms, although the subjects were also exposed to dusts other than asbestos (2). ... Asbestos exposure may cause airway obstruction by inducing bronchial asthma, even if confirmed asbestosis is absent.Jun 1, 2011
 
Their stock is down 10% and I expect it to get worse in the long run. In cases like these there needs to be prison and devastating fines or else it makes it worth it to kill people for profits.

J&J is a fantastically wealthy company. Some subsidiaries: Janssen (Xarelto which my wife has to take to prevent future DVT), Ortho Diagnostics (birth control & drug tests), etc. The main hospital in their HQ city of New Brunswick, NJ is called R.W. Johnson, after its founder. My wife has made a lot of money over the years because she owns a block of their stock, which keeps splitting.
 
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Their stock is down 10% and I expect it to get worse in the long run. In cases like these there needs to be prison and devastating fines or else it makes it worth it to kill people for profits.

That is the problem when large corporations and banks fund both parties. They are above the law because they own all the candidates or puppets in both parties. Until we get their money out of elections we might as well let Russia fund our candidates as well.
 
I saw that on the link about the bank notes flying out of the Brinks truck in NJ. Pretty shocking. J&J is going to pay a pretty large price for this, not just monetarily, but its image as well.

I used it on all 3 of my kids.

No the American people are going to pay. They simply raise the price of their other products to pay these fines. Unless criminal charges are filed and the people responsible are prosecuted these rich and powerful will remain rich and powerful.
 
I agree that unless there is some jail time involved for top executives (not just the junior rank scapegoats) this kind of stuff will never end. If you're the top guy and you know you will face jail time, you will watch things very carefully. Remember the Ford Pinto gas tank problem; Ford decided it was more cost efficient to just settle the cases as they came up than to fix the problem. So Ford knowingly let people burn to death in a defective and dangerous vehicle. If top execs were facing jail time, they would of sure damn fixed every Pinto.
 
No the American people are going to pay. They simply raise the price of their other products to pay these fines. Unless criminal charges are filed and the people responsible are prosecuted these rich and powerful will remain rich and powerful.

I thought you supported deregulation? Now you want things regulated to prevent it from happening, but only if you want it.
 
Oh how I wish those who blindly support corporations were here to tell us how corporations only want to do what's best for the public and care about their customers instead of profit...
 
I thought you supported deregulation? Now you want things regulated to prevent it from happening, but only if you want it.

I have always known we need some regulation. That is the purpose of government. I think we need OHSA to protect workers from unsafe working conditions. What we don't need is illegals destroying 100 years of fighting for a safe working condition. We need regulating of traffic on our roadways. Including punishing people endangering the lives of others. We don't need Nazi check points stopping law abiding citizens who have not broken any laws requiring them to show their papers. I can come up with thousands of examples. Their is a difference between regulating and ruling or restricting rights.
 
Only in this country, I swear. PRoducts should have to be PROVEN SAFE before they can be sold, in instances like this.
 
I agree that unless there is some jail time involved for top executives (not just the junior rank scapegoats) this kind of stuff will never end. If you're the top guy and you know you will face jail time, you will watch things very carefully. Remember the Ford Pinto gas tank problem; Ford decided it was more cost efficient to just settle the cases as they came up than to fix the problem. So Ford knowingly let people burn to death in a defective and dangerous vehicle. If top execs were facing jail time, they would of sure damn fixed every Pinto.

That is the problem. But it is hard to prove they knew. They do keep people between them and the problems. The other problem is rich people delegate. They tell someone else to solve the problem. If the person solves the problem legally but it cost the company too much then the board of directors and stock holder lose money. When they lose money the person who solved the problem legally loses his job. But if the person handles it in a shady manner and saves the company money he is either rewarded with bonuses and promotions or he gets caught and becomes the scape goat. The rich and powerful and their stock holders are above the law. That is the design behind a corporation. The big problem with corporations is their ability to buy both parties and essentially own our government. We merely choose between their man R & D.
 
That is the problem. But it is hard to prove they knew. They do keep people between them and the problems. The other problem is rich people delegate. They tell someone else to solve the problem. If the person solves the problem legally but it cost the company too much then the board of directors and stock holder lose money. When they lose money the person who solved the problem legally loses his job. But if the person handles it in a shady manner and saves the company money he is either rewarded with bonuses and promotions or he gets caught and becomes the scape goat. The rich and powerful and their stock holders are above the law. That is the design behind a corporation. The big problem with corporations is their ability to buy both parties and essentially own our government. We merely choose between their man R & D.

I agree that corporations, especially multinational corporations, are beyond the law, and in fact are more powerful than governments. Governments usually work for them. I believe a "buck stops here" law would go a long way towards solving this problem. A CEO should be assumed to know what's going on and be the person held criminally responsible. If that were the case you can be damn sure they would make it their business to know what's going on. In fact, if a CEO actually does NOT know what's going on they are criminally negligent, and should still be held accountable. But good luck getting any of that legislated; as I said, governments work for the corporations.
 
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