We strive to protect our newborns’ delicate bodies by using the safest, healthiest products available for them. But what if you found out that one of those very products actually causes cancer?
And not just cancer for the children that are inadvertently exposed to the toxins, but to adults who use them as well? It’s also a product that is typically found in most homes, sold by a company that is virtually a household name.
You’d be outraged, no??
It’s a very disturbing thought, but it’s also a reality.
Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder, once a renowned household product used on babies & adults alike, has been linked to numerous cancer diagnoses among its consumers.
It was determined that the mined talc in the powder can often be naturally blended with asbestos, which is a carcinogen that is linked to a specific form of cancer known as mesothelioma.
But it gets worse- so much worse.
What’s even more horrifying about this information is that Johnson & Johnson knew about the cancer link for DECADES. According to an investigation conducted by news agency Reuters, the company attempted to hide the information from consumers.
Let that sink in. Johnson & Johnson was aware that their baby powder product had the potential to kill its customers.
They continued to sell the powder in full awareness that it was potentially lethal… and its primary target demographic is infants.
The cancer link formally came to light via a lawsuit filed by Texas mom Darlene Coker in 1999, after research indicated that her cancer diagnosis was likely linked to years of baby powder use. Johnson & Johnson rigorously denied the link, & without sufficient proof, Coker was forced to eventually drop the lawsuit.
But the cancer cases kept increasing. A class-action lawsuit was recently filed against Johnson & Johnson by 11,700 plaintiffs.
In other words, that is 11,700 individuals with a cancer diagnosis (many of them ovarian cancer) that is directly linked to their use of Johnson & Johnson baby powder. And that’s only the victims that have come forward, or were even aware of the class-action suit.
Although the asbestos link only publicly came to light as a result of Coker’s lawsuit in 1999, it turns out that Johnson & Johnson was aware of it from as far back as 1971.
The carcinogen link was publicly hidden from consumers for four decades.
So a company that we consumers have previously viewed as “reputable” has knowingly been putting a cancer-causing product on store shelves for nearly FORTY YEARS now.
Based on Reuter’s investigation into Johnson & Johnson legal records, the company’s product testing sometimes tested positive for trace amounts of asbestos. It was also revealed that because company employees were uncertain of how to address the problem, they… simply didn’t. As Reuters reports:
company executives, mine managers, scientists, doctors and lawyers fretted over the problem and how to address it while failing to disclose it to regulators or the public.
They deliberately kept this information from the public. And they continued selling the baby powder, anyway.
Back in 1976, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration didn’t detect asbestos in the samples of baby powder that were submitted by Johnson & Johnson…
Johnson & Johnson conveniently neglected to mention that it WAS found in three different samples, by three separate laboratories.
The proof: Reuters included a photograph of a draft of a public statement for J&J’s website.
Several lawsuits have been filed within this year against Johnson & Johnson, and juries have awarded vast sums to the victims in some of those cases.
A lawsuit filed in St. Louis by 22 plaintiffs resulted in a verdict that held the company liable for $4.69 billion in damages.
Johnson & Johnson publicly stated that the company plans to appeal some of these verdicts, and continues to insist that it’s standard of testing ensures that their baby powder is indeed safe.
But to the average consumer, the damage is likely done. It’s one thing for a company to sell a product while unaware that it’s harmful to consumers. Johnson & Johnson was clearly aware of this information for an extreme amount of time. Instead of coming clean & revealing this disturbing revelation to the public, they intentionally chose to protect their own (financial) interests, at the cost of actual human lives.
If prevention is the cure in terms of minimizing cancer risks, then Johnson & Johnson’s silence has proven fatal.