Johnson & Johnson Recalls Baby Powder in U.S. After FDA Detects Carcinogenic Asbestos

China Venture Health, October 19 – Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) announced yesterday that it would recall approximately 33,000 bottles of baby powder in the United States after trace amounts of asbestos were detected in samples of baby powder purchased online by U.S. health regulators.

Liu Shaowei, a professor in the Department of Food Science and Engineering at East China University of Science and Technology, stated in an interview that talc and asbestos have a symbiotic relationship during the mining process, and it may be impossible to completely separate some portions of talc from asbestos. Currently, there is no method capable of achieving 100% separation between talc and asbestos. Asbestos is known to be carcinogenic.

This is not the first time such an incident has occurred at Johnson & Johnson; in fact, the century-old company is deeply mired in the “quagmire” of its baby powder controversy.Earlier this year, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $29.5 million in damages to the plaintiff for “knowing that its baby powder posed a carcinogenic risk yet failing to provide any warning to consumers.” Last year, the company was also ordered to pay a total of $4.69 billion in compensation to 22 plaintiffs in connection with the “baby powder cancer controversy.” It is reported that the company is facing thousands of lawsuits related to its talc-containing products.

In response to this matter, CVHealth contacted Johnson & Johnson’s China-based entity.Relevant personnel stated that this batch of products was not sold in the Chinese market,A rigorous and thorough investigation into this product is currently underway, in collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to confirm the integrity of the tested samples and the accuracy of the test results. Regarding whether the baby powder contains asbestos,Relevant personnel told Invest Health that thousands of tests conducted by Johnson & Johnson over the past 40 years have repeatedly demonstrated that the company’s talc products are free of asbestos.Furthermore, regarding previously concluded lawsuits involving Johnson & Johnson baby powder, relevant personnel from Johnson & Johnson stated that the courts consistently ruled that the company was not liable for any penalties.

Johnson & Johnson, founded in 1886 and headquartered in New Jersey, USA, operates across three major sectors: consumer health, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. In 1985, the company established Xi’an Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd. in China. According to publicly available data, Johnson & Johnson currently has 17 companies in China, spanning more than 90 cities, with a total workforce of 10,000 employees. The company’s 2019 third-quarter financial report showed revenue of RMB 61.312 billion, essentially flat year-on-year, while net profit reached RMB 14.189 billion, representing a 15.78% year-on-year increase.