Johnson & Johnson, a pharmaceutical company known for products like Tylenol and Zyrtec, has a history of corruption and harm. They supplied a majority of the raw materials for oxycodone, played a role in the opioid crisis, and settled for $5 billion in a $26 billion settlement. They also knowingly sold talc products that caused cancer and faced lawsuits related to vaginal mesh devices and artificial hip implants. Despite their actions, they face minimal fines and continue business as usual.
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@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
Thread: The Crimes of Johnson & Johnson
Most of the ire toward pharmaceutical companies has been directed at Pfizer and Moderna as of late so I thought it would be instructive to highlight another Pharma ghoul. You probably have one of their products in your cabinet right now.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
The oh so wonderful pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson. Makers of Tylenol, Zyrtec, Imodium, and many other products. What most don’t realize is that J&J have a long sordid history of corruption, injury and death. You wouldn’t know that by watching one of their ads though.
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We are all individuals, but we rely on each other to succeed. Together, we create, have fun, and respect traditions. We learn about various things, including our skin, silliness, bubbles, and belly buttons. Most importantly, we learn about each other because our collective strength brings out the best in us. Johnson's is inspired by you to understand everything about baby skin and become a leader in gentle care. By working together, we can cleanse, soothe, and nourish more gently. You have shown us how to not only raise a baby but also raise standards, hope, and love. We aspire to be like you. Johnson's - together, we raise.
Speaker 0: Every one of us is just one, but any one of us wouldn't get very far without lots of us. Together, we invent things. We go wild, make music, get messy. Together, we honor traditions. Old ones, new ones, goofy ones.
Together, we learn about skin and silliness, bubbles and belly buttons, and most of all, about each other because the best of us comes from all of us. You inspired Johnson's to know all there is to know about baby skin, to be the leader in gentle. So together, we can cleanse, soothe and nourish more tenderly. You've been showing us not just how to raise a baby, but how to raise standards, raise hope, raise love, and we wanna grow up to be just like you. Johnson's.
Together, we raise.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
Killing your customers is not a very good for business but nonetheless, like most Pharmaceutical companies, they get to pay a fine that is a fraction of their profits and continue business as usual.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
Did you know that J&J at one point was supplying a whopping 80% of the global market with the raw materials to make oxycodone? In 1994 they genetically engineered the poopy plant, the source of heroin/opium to create “Super poppy”.
How an Island in the Antipodes Became the World's Leading Supplier of Licit OpioidsPharmaceutical companies exploited a regulatory loophole that allowed for a decades-long boom in licit opioid production fueled by Tasmanian-grown poppies. Here's what the island can tell us about the next wave of the crisis.psmag.com
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
So given that J&J was the biggest suppliers of the materials to create the pills that have killed an estimated 263,000 people since 1999.
Shake-Up on Opium Island (Published 2014)Tasmania, with its huge poppy crop, is the top producer of a crucial raw material in prescription drugs. But companies fear that they depend too much on that harvest.nytimes.com
After Resting Case, State Points to Critical Evidence that Shows Johnson & Johnson is Kingpin Behind State’s Opioid Epidemic | Oklahoma Attorney GeneralNORMAN – Attorney General Mike Hunter and attorneys representing the state in its case against the nation’s leading drug manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson, rested its case this week after five weeks of testimony that showed how the company conducted a multi-decade fraudulent marketing campaign that led to the deadliest manmade epidemic the nation has ever seen.“After over aoag.ok.gov
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
The true societal cost of J&J’s criminal role in the opioid epidemic will probably never be known. Families shattered by the loss of loved ones, babies being born addicted to opioids and disability of thousands unable to live productive live, treatment costs, & the list goes on.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
In 2022 they agreed to pay just $5 Billion over nine years of a negotiated $26 Billion settlement with them, McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen for their roles in the epidemic. To give you an idea of what an absolute slap in the face of the American people this.
Their involvement in the opioid crisis is just the tip of the corrupt iceberg of evil. Just this month the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a bankruptcy filing by J&J that paves the way for even more lawsuits on top of the 38,000 it still faces.
Appeals Court Clears The Way For 38,000 Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder LawsuitsPharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has 99 problems and a Federal Appeals Court is one. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a bankruptcy filing by a Johnson & Johnson spinoff company that clears the way for more lawsuits over its baby powder.forbes.com
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
Could you imagine working for a company the knew their product, to be used on new born babies nonetheless, causes cancer? They knew this as far back as 1992. We now know this because an internal memo has been released dated 8/5/92 that touts “Major Opportunities” for Baby Powder
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
I’ve attached the memo in full so you can read the depravity for yourself but here is screen shot of bullet point 2, where they worry about negative publicity from the health community over potential cancer concerns.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
The memo:
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
Ok you may say to yourself, well that’s not an explicit admission, only a concern so there is a degree of plausible deniability. At lease that is what a lawyer would argue. However this next document is the smoking gun.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
A 1997 letter from an outside investigatory consultant J&J hired to evaluate their talc/cancer research. The consultant eviscerates their research and shows that they tried to downplay the risk of ovarian cancer.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
I encourage you to read it in full to get a sense of corruption and disdain for human life J&J exhibits.
This statement by the investigator is especially unsettling.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
“Several investigators have independently reported talc particles in ovarian tissue. Simply citing the Battelle study and stating that it “demonstrated that talc does not translate through the cervix to the uterine cavity and beyond” does not address the problem,..
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
…does not refute these findings and therefore does not serve CTFA’s best interest. All in all, in my opinion an inept response.”
Talcum Powder and Cancer | American Cancer SocietyTalcum powder is made from talc, a mineral composed mainly of the elements magnesium, silicon, & oxygen. Learn more about its possible link to cancer.cancer.org
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
Oh but that’s not all. J&J seems to have a thing with injuring woman irreparably. Just last year they reached a $300 million settlement in two class action lawsuits due to painful side effects of their vaginal mesh devices.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
According to lawyers involved in the case they failed to properly test the devices.
“Women have suffered complications including mesh exposure and erosion – when the mesh pokes through the vaginal wall or cuts through internal tissue – vaginal scarring, fistula formation,..
Johnson & Johnson reaches $300m settlement over pelvic mesh implantsSettlement of two Australian class actions is largest in country’s history and subject to federal court approvaltheguardian.com
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
In 2013 J&J agreed to pay a $2.5 Billion settlement related to individuals injured by their artificial hip implants. The implants caused severe pain, swelling, joint dislocations, heart and thyroid damage as well as central nervous system problems.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jj-hips-settlement-idUSBRE9AI1A820131120
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
Just to further my point that J&J is truly an immoral corporation with straight up disregard for human life and suffering caused by their products. Let’s have a look at one more scandal.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
For decades J&J sold their No More Tears baby shampoos with a preservative called Quaternium-15. At first glance most would think nothing of this ingredient but upon further investigation you’d learn that it actually released Formaldehyde, which is consider a carcinogen. https://t.co/Ed0XlfbJgA
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
They have since removed Quaternium-15 after pressure from consumer advocates and environmental groups. It should also be noted that Formaldehyde is also an ingredient used in some vaccines.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
This is a small sampling of the depths of depravity Johnson and Johnson will go to turn a profit. They have a veritable army of lawyers who are tasks with defending the indefensible 365 days a year.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
Despite the death and destruction they have left in their wake, they are given paltry fines compared to their profits and allowed to carry on business as usual. This is just as much as an indictment on our federal regulatory agencies as it is on Johnson and Johnson.
@JoshWalkos - Champagne Joshi
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