JOE: And what are their names? Chrysotile is asbestos. Furthermore, that was the second verdict rendered against Johnson & Johnson in its home state of New Jersey, following an April 2018 verdict for a mesothelioma plaintiff and his wife for $117 million, including $80 million in punitive damages. The court was shown Janssen’s 2012 business plan which said that “speaker programs often trigger first use” of Duragesic.

TIFFANY: Johnson & Johnson strongly denies any link between their signature product and cancer. In courts across the country, a small army of lawyers are engaged in a legal battle over intricate science. MIKE: The plaintiff’s allegation in this case is that Johnson & Johnson set up a test protocol that was designed not to find asbestos. [inquisitive music] ♪ ♪ RONI: As questions about the safety of baby powder continue to swirl in labs and courtrooms, a basic question emerges: “Where’s the government been in all of this?” The answer takes us back to the 1970s, when concerns about asbestos led to the testing of consumer products, including baby powder. “Doesn’t contain asbestos.” I went to Israel to meet a scientist who remembers what he found. AVIAM: We went to the Statue of Liberty, went to the beach. Four mesothelioma plaintiffs were awarded a total of $37.3 million by a New Jersey jury in September 2019. [calm music] RONI: Do you and Johnson & Johnson agree that asbestos is a cancer-causing agent in humans, even in trace amounts? TIFFANY: A lawyer for Johnson & Johnson said he was not aware of any evidence that Mr. “The Weekly” talks to a former teacher who claims in a lawsuit that her cancer may have been caused by asbestos in the talcum powder she used daily for years. Joe Satterley is appealing a case in Kentucky, where a jury ruled in August that Johnson & Johnson and Colgate were not liable for the death of another of his clients, Donna Ann Hayes, who died of mesothelioma in 2016 at age 72. Johnson & Johnson said it would appeal. Johnson & Johnson insists its baby powder is safe. McKinsey recommended sales reps focus on doctors already prescribing large amounts of OxyContin. He says it has never contained asbestos. Last month, a jury in New Jersey ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $37.3 million to four plaintiffs who claimed that asbestos in the company’s baby powder caused their mesothelioma. That fat is just built into the meat. Mr. Gorsky can’t spend all of his time doing that, and so they sent me. Some of the most damning testimony has come from Dr Russell Portenoy, a pain specialist and influential early cheerleader for the wide prescribing of opioids who was a paid adviser to Johnson & Johnson, Purdue and other drug makers. Its drug division, Janssen, was founded by Paul Janssen, a Belgian who invented an artificial opioid, fentanyl, in 1960. ”. It just made your body feel silkier and smooth, you know? But company documents show executives worried for decades about the possible presence of cancer-causing asbestos in talc used to make one of Johnson & Johnson’s signature products. And though its talcum powder represents only a fraction of the pharmaceutical and cosmetic giant’s modern business, it’s been a cornerstone of the company’s reputation. But in terms of reputation, in terms of trust, in terms of the consumer relationship, this is sort of one of the cornerstones of the entire company. Johnson & Johnson hired the consultants McKinsey & Company to identify opportunities to sell more. This defense verdict came on the heels of a similar verdict in New Jersey from October 2018, where jurors needed less than 30 minutes to unanimously conclude that the female plaintiff’s mesothelioma was not caused by inhaling asbestos from Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder. JOE: Could you please state your full name and spell it for the record? PATRICIA: Patricia Alice Schmitz. P-A-T-R-I-C-I-A S-C-H-M-I-T-Z. JOE: Pat, have you ever done this before? That reputation — and Johnson & Johnson’s stock price — has been threatened by thousands of lawsuits claiming that the talc the company uses is contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos. Roni Caryn Rabin covers health for The New York Times, where she wrote for the Well section before joining the Science desk. TIFFANY: Mark Lanier told the jury that, for decades, the company feared asbestos contamination and did nothing. - All of this evidence put together tells a chilling story. TIFFANY: Asbestos, the known carcinogen, is banned in more than 60 countries but not in the U.S. ARTHUR: It reminds me of all of these other cases. Reminds me of lead in paint. It reminds me of cigarette smoking. There’s all of these situations of exposures to commercial products that you and I can go to the store and buy that are indeed hazardous. Perhaps most shocking, however, was a $4.69 billion verdict obtained by twenty-two (22) different women suffering from ovarian cancer.