Johnson & Johnson voted against a proposal to end sales of its talc-based baby powder globally at its annual shareholder meeting on April 28, 2022. The company stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US and Canada in 2020 after an independent lab found traces of asbestos in the product.

The proposal to end sales of the product was introduced by investment platform Tulipshare, which unites smaller shareholders to influence the companies they invest in to move toward more ethical and environmentally safe business practices.

Another proposal which did pass the vote was for the company to allow a third-party Racial Justice Audit to assess the companies’ racial practices of marketing and advertising heavily in neighborhoods and areas with a predominantly high population of people of color. The proposal submitted by proposal Mercy Investment Services states that Johnson & Johnson continued to push its talc-based baby powder in these communities in the midst of, and in spite of, the news that asbestos had been found in the product.

Mercy’s proposal states that “Organizations from 51 countries have called on the company to halt sales worldwide.” and that the Johnson & Johnson’s only response was an attempt to use U.S. bankruptcy to shield itself liabilities from cancer lawsuits.

From: Fierce Pharma, April 29, 2022 Amid legal tumult, J&J shareholders reject proposal to end talc sales worldwide