Author: Mike Snider / Source: USA TODAY
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating Johnson & Johnson over concerns the company’s baby powder may have contained asbestos. Time
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating Johnson & Johnson over concerns the company’s baby powder may have contained asbestos.
The agencies subpoenaed the health care product maker in the wake of several jury awards to plaintiffs who claimed the company’s talc products were tainted with asbestos and caused their cancers. The agencies are seeking documents about those matters and other suits Johnson & Johnson faces filed by shareholders and pension holders over the situation.
Johnson & Johnson shares fell 1.4 percent in early trading Thursday to $134.43.
About 13,000 plaintiffs are seeking claims in pending lawsuits involving talc-based body powders. “The Company is cooperating with these government inquiries and will be producing documents in response,” Johnson & Johnson said in an SEC filing Wednesday.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Health Committee has also sought information from Johnson & Johnson about the company’s knowledge of potential asbestos in its talcum-based products.
Last year, courts in New Jersey and California awarded damages to plaintiffs who claimed…
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