Toulon Maybe if Reuters had done the same testing, and posted results, it would be more believeable. But, I see nothing of the sort in their report, unlike the reports from J&J.....
Read J&J's full statement below:
The Reuters article is one-sided, false and inflammatory. Simply put, the Reuters story is an absurd conspiracy theory, in that it apparently has spanned over 40 years, orchestrated among generations of global regulators, the world's foremost scientists and universities, leading independent labs, and J&J employees themselves.
Johnson & Johnson's baby powder is safe and asbestos-free. Studies of more than 100,000 men and women show that talc does not cause cancer or asbestos-related disease. Thousands of independent tests by regulators and the world's leading labs prove our baby powder has never contained asbestos.
J&J attorneys provided Reuters with hundreds of documents and directly responded to dozens of questions in order to correct misinformation and falsehoods. Notwithstanding this, Reuters repeatedly refused to meet with our representatives to review the facts and refused to incorporate much of the material we provided them.
The Reuters article is wrong in three key areas: The article ignores that thousands of tests by J&J, regulators, leading independent labs, and academic institutions have repeatedly shown that our talc does not contain asbestos. The article ignores that J&J has cooperated fully and openly with the U.S. FDA and other global regulators, providing them with all the information they requested over decades. We have also made our cosmetic talc mines and processed talc available to regulators for testing. Regulators have tested both, and they have always found our talc to be asbestos-free. The article ignores that J&J has always used the most advanced testing methods available to confirm that our cosmetic talc does not contain asbestos. Every method available to test J&J's talc for asbestos has been used by J&J, regulators, or independent experts, and all of these methods have all found that our cosmetic talc is asbestos-free.
Johnson & Johnson will continue to defend the safety of our product. For the truth and facts about talc, please go to www.factsabouttalc.com.
re: Reuters
Reuters based its report on a review of documents and deposition and trial testimony. It said the review showed that from 1971 to the early 2000s, J&J executives, mine managers, doctors and lawyers were aware the company's raw talc and finished powders sometimes tested positive for small amounts of asbestos. Those involved discussed the problem but they did not disclose it to regulators or the public, Reuters' examination found.
As in almost all things allowed to be purchased by the public(ex.- Phillip Morris products, etc.) there is an 'allowable' % of negatives, by the FDA, Gvt., etc.. Ever read the results of testing of drugs that have been approved by the FDA? Commercials are chock full of new drugs, every week. Sometimes, there is a test group of only 1000. Read the warning labels of that drug and you might find the drug 'may cause death'; it's even stated/written in small print, bottom of screen, in almost every commercial now. How do they know?....obviously, someone in that test group died from using the drug!! But, that's OK by Gvt. standards, apparently.