In an update to their
bombshell reporting on Johnson & Johnson’s history of asbestos tainted talc, Reuter’s “stands by its reporting” as J&J continues to deal with the fallout of their PR nightmare
and plummeting stock.
J&J has taken out full-page ads in major and local newspapers (click here to view the ad) asserting that talc is common, safe and beneficial. “If we had
any reasons to believe our talc was unsafe, it would be off our shelves.”
J&J CEO, Alex Gorsky, did an interview with the host of “Mad
Money” on
CNBC in an attempt to assure investors to have faith in their company and categorically
deny any causation between talc and asbestos related illness.
The evidence uncovered by trial attorneys and recent investigative journalism,
reveals J&J’s pattern of concealing lab results testing positive
for asbestos and the inconsistent methodologies applied. In fact, Reuter’s
notes that J&J’s website recently removed a study formerly backed
by major health organizations because the conclusions have been revised,
as J&J struggles to contain the unsound science they have chosen to
rely upon.
In the CNBC interview CEO Gorsky wanted to remind viewers that back in
the 1980s J&J was recognized for their swift action in removing Tylenol
from shelves during safety scares. He added that he couldn’t believe
that the same company “would allow a product that they felt in any
way could be harmful to stay on the market.” It’s true that
when dramatic tragedies unfold from immediate poisonings, companies tend
to respond accordingly. When the ill-effects of exposure can develop over
decades, such as the nature of asbestos exposure’s latency, companies
tend to dawdle and obscure. Facing the science and taking action opens
them up to a mountain of financial liability which they challenge with
their vast resources.
As the general public starts to grapple with the fact that one of America’s
oldest and most trusted companies hid the truth like so many asbestos
companies before it, Johnson & Johnson will serve as yet another example
of corporations putting profits above public well-being.