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Johnson & Johnson Accused of Selling Cancer-Causing Talc

[email protected] (Agencies)
May 5, 2017

May 5: In another recent health scare, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), an American multinational known for manufacturing pharmaceutical and consumer goods especially for babies, has been accused of using carcinogenic ingredients in its talcum powder. The world's largest health care company has been ordered by the St. Louis jury to pay over 110 million US dollars to a women in Virginia who claims to have developed ovarian cancer after almost 40 years of using their talc-based product for feminine hygiene.

johnsonLois Slemp is currently undergoing chemotherapy after her ovarian cancer which was initially diagnosed in 2012, returned and spread to her liver. Ms. Slemp blames the regular use of the talc for having developed cancer. Johnson & Johnson is also famous of its baby powder and baby lotion. She also alleges that the talc was contaminated with asbestos but both allegations have been denied by the company. However, the jury in Missouri has found both Johnson & Johnson and Imerys Talc America, which provides the product to the company, guilty and has ordered them to pay massive damages. Imerys Talc is a unit of the Paris-based Imerys SA.

The jury awarded $5.4 million in compensatory damages and stated that J&J was 99 percent responsible while Imerys was just 1 percent at fault. It has awarded punitive damages of $105 million against J&J and $50,000 against Imerys.

In a statement, the company's spokesperson, Carol Goodrich shared that they will appeal the verdict and continue to defend the safety of their products. Shockingly and on the contrary, there are more than 2400 lawsuits pending against the company regarding their popular products like the baby powder and the shower to shower talc and their associated risk of cancer.

Some of the cases have been dismissed due to the lack of credible scientific evidence but lawyers claim that the company has failed to warn their customers about the risks of using these products. This is not the first time that their talcum powder has been accused of causing ovarian cancer. The company is facing another charge brought by the family of a former competitive figure skater who died of ovarian cancer and the trial for the same is due in July. In 2016, other juries awarded Deborah Giannecchini 70 million US dollars and Jacqueline Fox 72 million US dollars in damages for their suits against Johnson and Johnson blaming their talcum powder to have caused ovarian cancer.

"Once again we've shown that these companies ignored the scientific evidence and continue to deny their responsibilities to the women of America," Ted Meadows, a lawyer for Slemp and other plaintiffs, said in a statement.

Back in 2006, based on studies, the International Agency for Research on Cancer which is a part of the World Health Organization regarded the use of talc-based body powder on the genitals as "possibly carcinogenic to humans." Such incidents raise big questions as most of their products are used for babies and kids and given the image of the company people assume that they are using something that is totally safe. This and many other controversies that have cropped up in the last few years indicate the sorry state of the safety of consumer goods and how intense commercialization and industrialization may be affecting the quality of the products we use in our day to day lives while posing a serious health threat.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New York, Jul 30: Can the coronavirus spread through the air? Yes, it's possible.

The World Health Organisation recently acknowledged the possibility that Covid-19 might be spread in the air under certain conditions.

Recent Covid-19 outbreaks in crowded indoor settings — restaurants, nightclubs and choir practices — suggest the virus can hang around in the air long enough to potentially infect others if social distancing measures are not strictly enforced.

Experts say the lack of ventilation in these situations is thought to have contributed to spread, and might have allowed the virus to linger in the air longer than normal.

In a report published in May, researchers found that talking produced respiratory droplets that could remain in the air in a closed environment for about eight to 14 minutes.

The WHO says those most at risk from airborne spread are doctors and nurses who perform specialized procedures such as inserting a breathing tube or putting patients on a ventilator.

Medical authorities recommend the use of protective masks and other equipment when doing such procedures.

Scientists maintain it's far less risky to be outside than indoors because virus droplets disperse in the fresh air, reducing the chances of Covid-19 transmission.

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Agencies
July 7,2020

The World Health Organization (WHO) is reviewing a report that suggested its advice on the novel coronavirus needs updating after some scientists told the New York Times there was evidence the virus could be spread by tiny particles in the air.

The WHO says the Covid-19 disease spreads primarily through small droplets, which are expelled from the nose and mouth when an infected person breaths them out in coughs, sneezes, speech or laughter and quickly sink to the ground.

In an open letter to the Geneva-based agency, 239 scientists in 32 countries outlined the evidence they say shows that smaller exhaled particles can infect people who inhale them, the newspaper said on Saturday.

Because those smaller particles can linger in the air longer, the scientists - who plan to publish their findings in a scientific journal this week - are urging WHO to update its guidance, the Times said.

"We are aware of the article and are reviewing its contents with our technical experts," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said in an email reply on Monday to a Reuters request for comment.

The extent to which the coronavirus can be spread by the so-called airborne or aerosol route - as opposed to by larger droplets in coughs and sneezes - remains disputed.

Any change in the WHO's assessment of the risk of transmission could affect its current advice on keeping one-metre physical distancing. Governments, which also rely on the agency for guidance policy, may also have to adjust public health measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.

"Especially in the last couple of months, we have been stating several times that we consider airborne transmission as possible but certainly not supported by solid or even clear evidence," Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO's technical lead for infection prevention and control, was quoted as saying in the New York Times.

WHO guidance to health workers, dated June 29, says that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is primarily transmitted between people through respiratory droplets and on surfaces.

But airborne transmission via smaller particles is possible in some circumstances, such as when performing intubation and aerosol-generating procedures, it says.

Medical workers performing such procedures should wear heavy-duty N95 respiratory masks and other protective equipment in an adequately ventilated room, the WHO says.

Officials at South Korea's Centers for Disease Control said on Monday they were continuing to discuss various issues about Covid-19, including the possible airborne transmission. They said more investigations and evidence were needed.

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Agencies
March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: The Centre has restricted sale and distribution of "hydroxychloroquine" declaring it as an essential drug to treat the COVID-19 patients and meet the requirements of emergency arising due to the pandemic.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday made the announcement making it clear that the order "shall come into force on the date of its publication in the official Gazette".

In the order, the government declared that the Central government is "satisfied that the drug hydroxychloroquine is essential to meet the requirements of emergency arising due to pandemic COVID-19 and in the public interest, it is necessary and expedient to regulate and restrict the sale and distribution of the drug 'hydroxychloroquine' and preparation based thereon for preventing their misuse".

"Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 26B of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (23 of 1940), the Central government hereby directs that sale by retail of any preparation containing the drug Hydroxychloroquine shall be in accordance with the conditions for sale of drugs specified in Schedule H1 to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945."

The order came at a time when the novel coronavirus claimed 16 lives and infected over 600 people across India.

The announcement regarding ban of sale and distribution of the drug was made by the government earlier but it issued an official Gazette notification on Thursday signalling that hydroxychloroquine -- an anti-Malaria drug -- will work as a medicine for treating coronavirus infected patients as well.

Recently, the national task force for COVID-19 constituted by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended hydroxy-chloroquine as a preventive medication.

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