Thread by @JoshWalkos

Thread: The Crimes of Johnson & Johnson

Most of the ire toward pharmaceutical companies has been directed at Pfizer and Moderna as of late so I thought it would be instructive to highlight another Pharma ghoul. You probably have one of their products in your cabinet right now.

The oh so wonderful pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson. Makers of Tylenol, Zyrtec, Imodium, and many other products. What most don’t realize is that J&J have a long sordid history of corruption, injury and death. You wouldn’t know that by watching one of their ads though.

Killing your customers is not a very good for business but nonetheless, like most Pharmaceutical companies, they get to pay a fine that is a fraction of their profits and continue business as usual.

Did you know that J&J at one point was supplying a whopping 80% of the global market with the raw materials to make oxycodone? In 1994 they genetically engineered the poopy plant, the source of heroin/opium to create “Super poppy”.

These plants were resistant to bugs and increased the yields of the alkaloid Thebaine, which is similar to morphine. All this is done in the country of Tasmania, a small island off the coast of Australia.

psmag.com/ideas/opioids-…

So given that J&J was the biggest suppliers of the materials to create the pills that have killed an estimated 263,000 people since 1999.

J&J met with with the now infamous Purdue Pharmaceuticals to ensure them they would be able to meet the anticipated need for opioids.

nytimes.com/2014/07/20/bus…

In Oklahoma alone between 2000 and 2011 J&J targeted doctors nearly 150,000 times and marketed their own opioids like fentanyl, tapentodol and tramadol to convince them to prescribe them as broadly as possible.

oag.ok.gov/articles/after…

The true societal cost of J&J’s criminal role in the opioid epidemic will probably never be known. Families shattered by the loss of loved ones, babies being born addicted to opioids and disability of thousands unable to live productive live, treatment costs, & the list goes on.

In 2022 they agreed to pay just $5 Billion over nine years of a negotiated $26 Billion settlement with them, McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen for their roles in the epidemic. To give you an idea of what an absolute slap in the face of the American people this.

J&J gross profit since 2020 is $182 Billion.

Lest we forget, while they were being tried for this fraud, the United States Government allowed them to manufacture a coronavirus vaccine to be widely distributed and also now known to cause all kinds of adverse effects, including blood clots.

hhs.gov/sites/default/…

Their involvement in the opioid crisis is just the tip of the corrupt iceberg of evil. Just this month the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a bankruptcy filing by J&J that paves the way for even more lawsuits on top of the 38,000 it still faces.

For knowingly selling Talc products i.e. baby powder that caused cancer. They have already settled for $100 million back in 2021. It is estimated that they have. $5.5 Billion in potential liabilities from this.

forbes.com/sites/korihale…

Could you imagine working for a company the knew their product, to be used on new born babies nonetheless, causes cancer? They knew this as far back as 1992. We now know this because an internal memo has been released dated 8/5/92 that touts “Major Opportunities” for Baby Powder

I’ve attached the memo in full so you can read the depravity for yourself but here is screen shot of bullet point 2, where they worry about negative publicity from the health community over potential cancer concerns.

The memo:

Ok you may say to yourself, well that’s not an explicit admission, only a concern so there is a degree of plausible deniability. At lease that is what a lawyer would argue. However this next document is the smoking gun.

A 1997 letter from an outside investigatory consultant J&J hired to evaluate their talc/cancer research. The consultant eviscerates their research and shows that they tried to downplay the risk of ovarian cancer.

I encourage you to read it in full to get a sense of corruption and disdain for human life J&J exhibits.

This statement by the investigator is especially unsettling.

“Several investigators have independently reported talc particles in ovarian tissue. Simply citing the Battelle study and stating that it “demonstrated that talc does not translate through the cervix to the uterine cavity and beyond” does not address the problem,..

…does not refute these findings and therefore does not serve CTFA’s best interest. All in all, in my opinion an inept response.”

This was in 1997 and J&J ignored these concerns and for 25 more years continued to ship cancer causing talc worldwide, enjoying astronomical profits.

cancer.org/healthy/cancer…

Oh but that’s not all. J&J seems to have a thing with injuring woman irreparably. Just last year they reached a $300 million settlement in two class action lawsuits due to painful side effects of their vaginal mesh devices.

According to lawyers involved in the case they failed to properly test the devices.

“Women have suffered complications including mesh exposure and erosion – when the mesh pokes through the vaginal wall or cuts through internal tissue – vaginal scarring, fistula formation,..

…painful sex, and pelvic, back and leg pains. Some of these complications may occur years after surgery and can be difficult to treat.”

theguardian.com/business/2022/…

In 2013 J&J agreed to pay a $2.5 Billion settlement related to individuals injured by their artificial hip implants. The implants caused severe pain, swelling, joint dislocations, heart and thyroid damage as well as central nervous system problems.

reuters.com/article/us-jj-…

Just to further my point that J&J is truly an immoral corporation with straight up disregard for human life and suffering caused by their products. Let’s have a look at one more scandal.

For decades J&J sold their No More Tears baby shampoos with a preservative called Quaternium-15. At first glance most would think nothing of this ingredient but upon further investigation you’d learn that it actually released Formaldehyde, which is consider a carcinogen.

They have since removed Quaternium-15 after pressure from consumer advocates and environmental groups. It should also be noted that Formaldehyde is also an ingredient used in some vaccines.

This is a small sampling of the depths of depravity Johnson and Johnson will go to turn a profit. They have a veritable army of lawyers who are tasks with defending the indefensible 365 days a year.

Despite the death and destruction they have left in their wake, they are given paltry fines compared to their profits and allowed to carry on business as usual. This is just as much as an indictment on our federal regulatory agencies as it is on Johnson and Johnson.

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@Trinityaudiobot