JOHNSON & JOHNSON HAS A BABY POWDER PROBLEM SummaryJacqueline Fox died of ovarian cancer in October 2015. The jury verdict four months later found Johnson & Johnson liable for the development of the disease because its talcum powder contributed to it and because the company failed to warn women of the risk they faced if they used talc in their genital area. Although the company representative said that Johnson & Johnson aim to appeal the verdict because “jury verdicts should not be confused with regulatory rulings or rigorous scientific findings” and “the overwhelming body of scientific research and clinical evidence supports the safety of cosmetic talc,” in the light of multiple legal claims that the company has faced of late, it is unlikely that they will succeed. Even if the scientific trial proves otherwise, the company has already lost a great deal of customer trust (Berfield, Feeley, & Fisk, 2016). Scientists found the relationship between talc use and ovarian tumors long time ago.
Since the first statistically grounded publication about the true impact of talc on women’s health in 1982, over twenty reputable epidemiological studies have found the increase in the risk of cancer development for those who used talc in the genital area by 33%. Although Johnson & Johnson have been aware of the data, they failed to warn their customers of the potential risk. The company representative explains that Johnson & Johnson simply did not regard the causal link strong enough to issue warnings on Baby Powder labels. Even more serious charge against the company in Fox’s case was Johnson & Jonson’s targeted marketing of Baby Powder to the population of black and Hispanic Americans, its most committed customer groups. When customers from this target group, who have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, learn about the long-term policy of Johnson & Johnson, they cannot believe this can be the case. Thousands of cases have been under investigation in Beasley Allen and other law firms awaiting their turns for trial to be set in court.
Key Points
I think that Johnson & Johnson’s production and marketing of talc to women while deliberately concealing information about the increased risk of developing ovarian cancer has to do with Ethics. It is surprising how the company persistently placed millions of its customers at risk of developing ovarian cancer stifling the voices of authoritative researchers. It is possible that the company has failed to act in a socially responsible manner. Yet, the company denies all the charges and accusations and says that it is “confident that its products are safe for use by its customers” and notes that its “confidence is supported by the consensus view of qualified scientific experts and regulatory agencies” (Berfield et al., 2016). By saying so, the company wants to stress that it is committed to improving people’s quality of life, which refers to one of multiple voluntary responsibilities. The company’s management state that they have been aware of the epidemiological studies published in scientific journals but dismissed their findings as unreliable and unsupported by relevant quantitative data. Johnson & Johnson continues to defend the safety of Baby Powder on the website.
Course Concepts
If to apply course material, in particular, Ferrel, Hurt, & Ferrel’s (2015) view of ethical actions, it will be clear that Johnson & Johnson violates ethical principles. Based on “Questions to Consider in Determining Whether an Action is Ethical,” it turns out that the company’s unwillingness to disclose truth about Baby Powder to its customers and targeting more socially advantaged and less educated population groups can be qualified as unethical conduct (it is unlikely that such conduct would be approved of as a result of open discussions with employees). Also, this conduct is not socially responsible because it has failed to correspond to two of its dimensions: ethical (i.e. not for-profit only) and voluntary and philanthropic (i.e. promoting goodwill and human welfare).
- Berfield, S., Feeley, J., & Fisk, M. (2016, March). Johnson & Johnson Has a Baby Powder Problem. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-baby-powder-cancer-lawsuits/
- Ferrell, Hirt, Ferrell. (2015). Business Ethics and Social Responsibility. In Business (4th ed., pp. 22-55). New York: McGraw Hill Education.
