Johnson & Johnson recalls 33,000 bottles of talc because of traces

asbestos

NEW YORK (awp / afp) – Pharmaceutical and hygiene group Johnson & Johnson announced Friday the recall of 33,000 bottles of talc in the United States following the detection of traces of asbestos, even as the company has been saying for several years that his products are totally lacking.

On Wall Street the penalty was immediate: its action fell to 18H30 GMT 5.5%.

The company said in a statement to have committed this recall "by excess of precaution (…) following a test conducted by the US Agency of Medicine (FDA) showing the presence of minute levels of contamination by chrysotile asbestos (not more than 0.00002%) in samples from a bottle purchased online ".

But Johnson & Johnson, who has faced for several years in several trials accusing his talc to be the cause of cancer, has always said that its products do not contain asbestos.

However, the company has already been condemned several times, to pay for example in July 2018 $ 4.7 billion in damages to a group of 22 women claiming to have developed ovarian cancer following the use of the drug. talcum in the intimate toilet.

Mainly sold in the United States by Johnson & Johnson as "baby powder" in a white plastic bottle, the product is also used by adults to contain perspiration and prevent irritation.

The company said Friday it had launched an investigation to verify the integrity of the bottle tested by the FDA and the validity of the controls conducted by the agency.

Johnson & Johnson faces many other legal fronts, including its role in the opiate crisis.

jum / -dho / alb