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US authorities currently are investigating the concerns spurred by Johnson & Johnson containing a harmful amount of asbestos in its talcum products like the baby powder. The inquiries held by the Department of Justice & Securities along with the Exchange Commission reported in the month of December that the firm already knew about this risk for more than a decade but chose to remain silent.
The firm that chose to contest these reports mentioned that they were co-operating completely. Currently, Johnson & Johnson also faces several lawsuits that have been linked to several health concerns. In an official statement released by the company, it mentioned that the inquiries disclosed during the annual report had close relations to December’s news stories. This prompted the overall price for the firm to plunge high by a mark of 10 percent.
The firm also mentioned that these stories had actually included statements that were highly inaccurate. The company also hid a chunk of crucial information which was already made public during the litigation as well as prior reports by media.
To this Johnson & Johnson said that they completely plan to co-operate with the inquiries being carried out. It also added that they will defend their stand with the litigation related to the talcum powder. The company has been facing several lawsuits from 1000s of customers stating that the use of talcum powder manufactured by the firm caused cancer.
The investors for the company also sued the brand for keeping away the issue from the table and not choosing to disclose the same. Johnson & Johnson current maintains the fact that their baby powder comes as a completely safe product that is asbestos-free. They also mentioned that their product contains nothing that will result in cancer. However, the decisions taken by the court regarding the matter are mixed.
Following these allegations, the shares for Johnson & Johnson has fallen by 1.4 percent during Thursday’s early trading to current price per share of $134.35. Last year, the courts at California and New Jersey awarded the damages to people who claimed that the products by Johnson & Johnson were actually tainted with the presence of asbestos and were the causal factor behind mesothelioma. In the month of July 2018, a jury at St. Louis awarded about $4.7 billion to a total of 22 women who claimed that the talcum powder by Johnson & Johnson resulted in them suffering from ovarian cancer.
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