Baby Powder's Possible Asbestos Link Worried Johnson & Johnson for Years
On December 14, 2018, the New York Times published an article investigating Johnson & Johnson’s concern over asbestos in its Baby Powder dating back to the early 1970s. A concern which J&J chose not to share with regulators and shareholders, not to mention American consumers who purchase more Johnson’s Baby Powder than all other brands of Baby Powder combined.
The New York Times article was published the same day as a Reuters News investigative report concluding that Johnson & Johnson “knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its Baby Powder.” News of the day caused shares of J&J to drop 10 percent.
Public awareness of J&J’s conduct is key to holding the company responsible for the risk to public health posed by its products. J&J successfully hid its concern about asbestos in Baby Powder and Shower to Shower talc products for decades. The damning information would still be hidden if not for the efforts of attorneys representing persons harmed by these products.
We fully expect J&J to continue its campaign of denial--both in courts of law against consumers it has harmed, and in the court of public opinion to consumers who purchase J&J products and invest in J&J stock. But as the public learns the facts, through mass media reporting like the Reuters and New York Times reports, and continued efforts of victims’ attorneys, J&J will eventually have its day of reckoning, like so many asbestos companies before them.
