Johnson & Johnson, a leading manufacturer of health care products as well as medical implants and prescription drugs, is facing even more scrutiny. In addition to the numerous lawsuits the company is facing over allegations that its iconic Baby Powder contains asbestos, the company is facing a number of other lawsuits. The lawsuits include women suing over its permanent birth control, Essure, vaginal mesh implants, and its opioid pain relievers. The lawsuits over the asbestos contamination have prompted an investigation by the federal government over whether the company was aware of the contamination and hid it.
Reuters reports that a Johnson & Johnson expert working for the FDA found asbestos in its Baby Powder.
Earlier this month, Johnson & Johnson disclosed that the Food and Drug Administration found asbestos in its Baby Powder. They have since attacked the validity of the test results.
Last Tuesday, the company announced that none of the independent labs that tested the same bottle and lot found no traces of asbestos. In challenging the results, however, the company has cast doubt on one of its own experts.
The lab, a private entity in Maryland, is run by an expert that is paid to be a witness for Johnson & Johnson.
The director of AMA Analytical Services, Inc., Andreas Saldivar, has served as a litigation expert for Johnson & Johnson since 2017. He has testified in lawsuits regarding the claim that asbestos caused the plaintiff’s cancer.
Saldivar’s lab began testing cosmetic talc products for the FDA again this year. In September, the lab found asbestos in an unmarked sample that they later identified as Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder.
The challenge for Johnson & Johnson now is to continue to challenge the test results without framing the lab or the lab director it used as an expert witness earlier as unreliable.
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