Apple News Today Rebroadcast: The truth about Johnson & Johnson
Feb 28, 2026
Gardiner Harris, an investigative journalist who covers public health and pharmaceuticals and author of No More Tears, digs into decades of alleged misconduct by Johnson & Johnson. He discusses talc and asbestos in baby powder, secret testing and legal battles, J&J’s role in the opioid crisis, vaccine manufacturing failures, and proposals for stronger oversight and transparency.
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Baby Powder Branding Built A Shield Of Trust
- Johnson & Johnson's baby powder branding created deep trust that shielded the company despite safety issues.
- Gardiner Harris shows the talc product was central to J&J's identity even as evidence accumulated of asbestos contamination.
Hidden Tests Revealed Asbestos In Baby Powder
- J&J knew talc and asbestos were linked and kept tests showing asbestos in baby powder secret for decades.
- Internal documents revealed repeated positive asbestos tests through the 1970s and 1980s that the company hid from regulators.
Litigation Exposed Decades Of Concealment
- Public lawsuits and Reuters reporting forced internal J&J documents into the open and triggered FDA testing in 2019 that found asbestos.
- J&J continued to defend the product until legal losses and settlements led to stopping U.S. sales in 2020.
