Johnson & Johnson shareholders called on to end talc baby powder sales

theguardian.com:

Women’s health groups are calling on healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson’s largest shareholders to force the company to end all sales of its controversial talc-based baby powder and hire an independent firm to conduct a racial justice audit.

The pressure comes after decades of independent science suggested a link between ovarian cancer and baby powder, and the Food and Drug Administration detected cancer-causing asbestos in one lot of the product. Internal company memos show Johnson & Johnson for years marketed it toward African American and overweight women and, the groups charge, knew of the asbestos contamination.

Two resolutions to be voted on at the company’s virtual Thursday shareholder meeting include one on directing Johnson & Johnson to stop global sales of talc based baby powder, and one on conducting the racial justice audit. A letter sent to Vanguard, one of Johnson & Johnson’s major shareholders, by an alliance of advocacy groups, led by Black Women for Wellness, states the investment firm has a “moral imperative” to support the proposals.

“Johnson & Johnson has betrayed consumer and investor trust, while violating the rights of millions of individuals by selling asbestos-contaminated talcum baby powder, by intentionally targeting Black women in the marketing of this product, by refusing to admit wrongdoing, and by continuing to sell its talc-based baby powder worldwide,” the letter reads.

Though Johnson & Johnson discontinued US talc-based baby powder sales in 2020 amid mounting public pressure and nearly 38,000 lawsuits, it continues to sell it globally in regions with high populations of people of color.

The American multinational corporation has steadfastly denied that its products contain asbestos and said